diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/rope/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/rope/default.nix
index 66340f917704..c14b4f364075 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/rope/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/rope/default.nix
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
-{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchPypi, nose }:
+{ stdenv, buildPythonPackage, fetchPypi, pythonAtLeast, nose }:
 
 buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "rope";
   version = "0.14.0";
 
+  disabled = pythonAtLeast "3.8";  # 0.17 should support Python 3.8
+
   src = fetchPypi {
     inherit pname version;
     sha256 = "1bwayj0hh459s3yh0sdrxksr9wfilgi3a49izfaj06kvgyladif5";