diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/kaggle/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/kaggle/default.nix
index 78017f8055a5..5c3b28753937 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/kaggle/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/kaggle/default.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {
   lib,
+  stdenv,
   buildPythonPackage,
   fetchFromGitHub,
 
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@
 
   # tests
   pytestCheckHook,
+  versionCheckHook,
   writableTmpDirAsHomeHook,
 }:
 
@@ -57,9 +59,14 @@ buildPythonPackage (finalAttrs: {
 
   nativeCheckInputs = [
     pytestCheckHook
+    versionCheckHook
     # kaggle creates its config dir at import time; needs a writable HOME.
     writableTmpDirAsHomeHook
   ];
+  versionCheckKeepEnvironment = lib.optionals stdenv.hostPlatform.isDarwin [
+    # PermissionError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/var/empty/.kaggle'
+    "HOME"
+  ];
 
   # kaggle authenticates at import time; fake creds for the offline checks.
   env = {