diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/reptyr/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/reptyr/default.nix
index 35516fdf0e69..fadb9df98086 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/reptyr/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/reptyr/default.nix
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   nativeCheckInputs = [ python ];
 
-  doCheck = true;
+  # reptyr needs to do ptrace of a non-child process
+  # It can be neither used nor tested if the kernel is not told to allow this
+  doCheck = false;
 
   checkFlags = [
     "PYTHON_CMD=${python.interpreter}"