diff --git a/pkgs/tools/virtualization/google-compute-engine/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/virtualization/google-compute-engine/default.nix
index be62ace4797b..0606bef08d1c 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/virtualization/google-compute-engine/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/virtualization/google-compute-engine/default.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 { lib
 , fetchFromGitHub
-, buildPythonApplication
+, buildPythonPackage
 , bash
 , bashInteractive
 , systemd
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 , distro
 }:
 
-buildPythonApplication rec {
+buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "google-compute-engine";
   version = "20190124";
   namePrefix = "";
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ buildPythonApplication rec {
   buildInputs = [ bash ];
   propagatedBuildInputs = [ boto setuptools distro ];
 
-
   postPatch = ''
     for file in $(find google_compute_engine -type f); do
       substituteInPlace "$file" \
@@ -53,7 +52,11 @@ buildPythonApplication rec {
     patchShebangs $out/bin/*
   '';
 
-  doCheck = false;
+  checkPhase = ''
+    # this package has its own test suite, but they assume the ability to
+    # access resources like /sys/class/net causing them to fail in the sandbox
+    python -c 'import google_compute_engine'
+  '';
 
   meta = with lib; {
     description = "Google Compute Engine tools and services";