diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/gaia/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/gaia/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9411f76908eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/gaia/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+{ stdenv
+, lib
+, fetchFromGitHub
+, libyaml
+, swig
+, pkgconfig
+, wafHook
+, makeWrapper
+, qt4
+, pythonPackages
+, pythonSupport ? false
+# Default to false since it breaks the build, see https://github.com/MTG/gaia/issues/11
+, stlfacadeSupport ? false
+, assertsSupport ? true
+, cyclopsSupport ? true
+}:
+
+assert pythonSupport -> pythonPackages != null;
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+  pname = "gaia";
+  version = "2.4.5";
+
+  src = fetchFromGitHub {
+    owner = "MTG";
+    repo = "gaia";
+    rev = "v${version}";
+    sha256 = "12jxb354s2dblr2ghnl3w05m23jgzvrrgywfj8jaa32j3gw48fv2";
+  };
+
+  # Fix installation error when waf tries to put files in /etc/
+  prePatch = ''
+  '' + lib.optionalString cyclopsSupport ''
+    substituteInPlace src/wscript \
+      --replace "/etc/cyclops" "$out/etc/cyclops" \
+      --replace "/etc/init.d" "$out/etc/init.d"
+  '';
+
+  nativeBuildInputs = [
+    wafHook
+    pkgconfig
+    swig
+  ]
+    # The gaiafusion binary inside $out/bin needs a shebangs patch, and
+    # wrapping with the appropriate $PYTHONPATH
+    ++ lib.optionals (pythonSupport) [
+      pythonPackages.wrapPython
+    ]
+  ;
+
+  buildInputs = [
+    libyaml
+    qt4
+  ];
+
+  propagatedBuildInputs = []
+    ++ lib.optionals (pythonSupport) [
+      # This is not exactly specified in upstream's README but it's needed by the
+      # resulting $out/bin/gaiafusion script
+      pythonPackages.pyyaml
+    ]
+  ;
+
+  wafConfigureFlags = []
+    ++ lib.optionals (pythonSupport) [ "--with-python-bindings" ]
+    ++ lib.optionals (stlfacadeSupport) [ "--with-stlfacade" ]
+    ++ lib.optionals (assertsSupport) [ "--with-asserts" ]
+    ++ lib.optionals (cyclopsSupport) [ "--with-cyclops" ]
+  ;
+
+  postFixup = ''
+  ''
+    + lib.optionalString pythonSupport ''
+      wrapPythonPrograms
+    ''
+  ;
+
+  meta = with lib; {
+    homepage = "https://github.com/MTG/gaia";
+    description = "General library to work with points in a semimetric space";
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ doronbehar ];
+    platforms = platforms.all;
+    license = licenses.agpl3;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 00f735596237..7b4bafe3424e 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -857,6 +857,8 @@ in
 
   genymotion = callPackage ../development/mobile/genymotion { };
 
+  gaia = callPackage ../development/libraries/gaia { };
+
   gamecube-tools = callPackage ../development/tools/gamecube-tools { };
 
   gams = callPackage ../tools/misc/gams (config.gams or {});
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index 17c5e74aa78a..5fc1808bf7c3 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -2422,6 +2422,12 @@ in {
 
   fx2 = callPackage ../development/python-modules/fx2 { };
 
+  # gaia isn't supported with python3 and it's not available from pypi
+  gaia = disabledIf (isPyPy || isPy3k) (toPythonModule (pkgs.gaia.override {
+    pythonPackages = self;
+    pythonSupport = true;
+  }));
+
   gateone = callPackage ../development/python-modules/gateone { };
 
   GeoIP = callPackage ../development/python-modules/GeoIP { };