diff --git a/pkgs/tools/text/recode/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/text/recode/default.nix
index e7c5997021db..17a63799ac4e 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/text/recode/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/text/recode/default.nix
@@ -1,46 +1,29 @@
-{stdenv, fetchurl, autoconf, automake, libtool, gettext, perl}:
+# XXX: this may need -liconv on non-glibc systems.. 
 
-let
-  asIfPatch = ./recode-3.6-as-if.patch;
+{stdenv, fetchgit, python, perl}:
 
-  gettextPatch = ./recode-3.6-gettextfix.diff;
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+  name = "recode-3.7-pff85fdbd";
 
-  debianPatch = fetchurl {
-    url = "http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/r/recode/recode_3.6-15.diff.gz";
-    sha256 = "114qxm29wk95w5760bswgd46d5p00g5kbfai5wchjvcbi722p5qf";
-  };
-in
-stdenv.mkDerivation {
-  name = "recode-3.6";
-
-  src = fetchurl {
-    url = "ftp://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/gnu/recode/recode-3.6.tar.gz";
-    sha256 = "1krgjqfhsxcls4qvxhagc45sm1sd0w69jm81nwm0bip5z3rs9rp3";
+  src = fetchgit {
+    url = https://github.com/pinard/Recode.git;
+    rev = "2fd8385658e5a08700e3b916053f6680ff85fdbd";
+    sha256 = "1xhlfmqld6af16l444jli9crj9brym2jihg1n6lkxh2gar68f5l7";
   };
 
-  buildInputs = [ autoconf automake libtool gettext perl ];
-
-  patchPhase = ''
-    patch -Np1 -i ${asIfPatch}
-    patch -Np1 -i ${gettextPatch}
-    gunzip <${debianPatch} | patch -Np1 -i -
-    sed -i '1i#include <stdlib.h>' src/argmatch.c
-    rm -f acinclude.m4
-    autoreconf -fi
-    libtoolize
-  '';
-
-  configureFlags = "--without-included-gettext";
+  buildInputs = [ python perl ];
 
   doCheck = true;
 
+  preCheck = ''
+    checkFlagsArray=(LDFLAGS="-L../src/.libs -Wl,-rpath=../src/.libs")
+  '';
+
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://www.gnu.org/software/recode/";
     description = "Converts files between various character sets and usages";
-
-    license = "GPLv2+";
-
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.unix;
-    maintainers = [];
+    license = stdenv.lib.licenses.gpl2Plus;
+    maintainers = with stdenv.lib.maintainers; [ jcumming ];
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/text/recode/recode-3.6-as-if.patch b/pkgs/tools/text/recode/recode-3.6-as-if.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index c7bcc27c8750..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/tools/text/recode/recode-3.6-as-if.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
-http://bugs.gentoo.org/283029
-
---- a/m4/flex.m4
-+++ b/m4/flex.m4
-@@ -8,11 +8,11 @@ dnl ad_AC_PROG_FLEX
- dnl Look for flex or missing, then run AC_PROG_LEX and AC_DECL_YYTEXT
- AC_DEFUN(ad_AC_PROG_FLEX,
- [AC_CHECK_PROGS(LEX, flex, missing)
--if test "$LEX" = missing; then
-+AS_IF([test "$LEX" = missing], [dnl
-   LEX="\$(top_srcdir)/$ac_aux_dir/missing flex"
-   LEX_OUTPUT_ROOT=lex.yy
-   AC_SUBST(LEX_OUTPUT_ROOT)dnl
--else
-+], [:
-   AC_PROG_LEX
-   AC_DECL_YYTEXT
--fi])
-+])])
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/text/recode/recode-3.6-gettextfix.diff b/pkgs/tools/text/recode/recode-3.6-gettextfix.diff
deleted file mode 100644
index 3b7eb8ba20e6..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/tools/text/recode/recode-3.6-gettextfix.diff
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-http://bugs.gentoo.org/239372
-
-patch by Dmitry Karasik
-
---- recode-3.6/m4/gettext.m4
-+++ recode-3.6/m4/gettext.m4
-@@ -109,12 +109,12 @@
-     else
-       ac_items="$LINGUAS"
-       for ac_item in $ac_items; do
--	case "$ALL_LINGUAS" in
--	  *$ac_item*)
-+        for supported_item in $ALL_LINGUAS; do
-+          if test "$ac_item" = "$supported_item"; then
- 	    ac_print="$ac_print $ac_item"
- 	    MOFILES="$MOFILES $ac_item.mo"
--	    ;;
--	esac
-+          fi
-+        done
-       done
-     fi
-     AC_SUBST(MOFILES)