diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libvirt/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libvirt/default.nix
index 6854254f7267..deba645a39b9 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libvirt/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libvirt/default.nix
@@ -2,10 +2,13 @@
 , iproute, iptables, readline, lvm2, utillinux, udev, libpciaccess, gettext
 , libtasn1, ebtables, libgcrypt, yajl, makeWrapper, pmutils, libcap_ng
 , dnsmasq, libnl
+, pythonPackages
 }:
 
 let version = "1.2.9"; in
 
+assert version == pythonPackages.libvirt.version;
+
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "libvirt-${version}";