diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/granian/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/granian/default.nix
index c785701b3380..6edbe1054e03 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/granian/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/granian/default.nix
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   rustPlatform,
   cacert,
   buildPythonPackage,
+  granian,
   uvloop,
   click,
   setproctitle,
@@ -39,7 +40,8 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   ];
 
   cargoDeps = rustPlatform.fetchCargoVendor {
-    inherit pname version src;
+    pname = "granian";
+    inherit version src;
     hash = "sha256-IdvKvAFuE+GpnLknbVNUGEqAJghJc4sHuJkOL2tDHWI=";
   };
 
@@ -95,6 +97,27 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   # FIXME: root cause and fix this.
   doCheck = false;
 
+  # Make ofborg run checks.
+  # They're too buggy for hydra, but still a useful smell test
+  passthru.tests = {
+    # overridePythonAttrs is not available in finalAttrs.finalPackage
+    pytest = granian.overridePythonAttrs {
+      pname = "granian-with-check-phase";
+      # skip repeat build
+      buildPhase = ''
+        # runHook preBuild
+        die() { echo >&2 "$@"; exit 1; }
+        [[ ! -d dist ]] || die "ERROR: dist/ found at start of buildPhase"
+        cp -r ${granian.dist} dist
+        chmod -R +w dist/
+        runHook postBuild
+      '';
+      nativeBuildInputs = [ ]; # maturin overwrites buildPhase unconditionally
+      doCheck = true;
+      dontCheckPythonMetadata = true; # changed pname
+    };
+  };
+
   pythonImportsCheck = [ "granian" ];
 
   passthru.updateScript = nix-update-script { };