diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/default.nix
index 3cc0eecb1b08..94f04b73f498 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/default.nix
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ with pkgs;
         pythonAtLeast = lib.versionAtLeast pythonVersion;
         pythonOlder = lib.versionOlder pythonVersion;
         inherit hasDistutilsCxxPatch pythonForBuild;
+
+        tests = callPackage ./tests.nix {
+          python = self;
+        };
   };
 
 in {
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/tests.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/tests.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..37fbe6701148
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/tests.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+{ python
+, runCommand
+, substituteAll
+, lib
+}:
+
+let
+  envs = let
+    inherit python;
+    pythonEnv = python.withPackages(ps: with ps; [ ]);
+  in {
+    # Plain Python interpreter
+    plain = rec {
+      env = python;
+      interpreter = env.interpreter;
+      is_venv = "False";
+      is_nixenv = "False";
+    };
+  } // lib.optionalAttrs (python.implementation != "graal") {
+    # Python Nix environment (python.buildEnv)
+    nixenv = rec {
+      env = pythonEnv;
+      interpreter = env.interpreter;
+      is_venv = "False";
+      is_nixenv = "True";
+    };
+  } // lib.optionalAttrs (python.isPy3k && (!python.isPyPy)) rec {
+    # Venv built using plain Python
+    # Python 2 does not support venv
+    # TODO: PyPy executable name is incorrect, it should be pypy-c or pypy-3c instead of pypy and pypy3.
+    plain-venv = rec {
+      env = runCommand "${python.name}-venv" {} ''
+        ${python.interpreter} -m venv $out
+      '';
+      interpreter = "${env}/bin/${python.executable}";
+      is_venv = "True";
+      is_nixenv = "False";
+    };
+    # Venv built using Python Nix environment (python.buildEnv)
+    # TODO: Cannot create venv from a  nix env
+    # Error: Command '['/nix/store/ddc8nqx73pda86ibvhzdmvdsqmwnbjf7-python3-3.7.6-venv/bin/python3.7', '-Im', 'ensurepip', '--upgrade', '--default-pip']' returned non-zero exit status 1.
+    # nixenv-venv = rec {
+    #   env = runCommand "${python.name}-venv" {} ''
+    #     ${pythonEnv.interpreter} -m venv $out
+    #   '';
+    #   interpreter = "${env}/bin/${pythonEnv.executable}";
+    #   is_venv = "True";
+    #   is_nixenv = "True";
+    # };
+  };
+
+  testfun = name: attrs: runCommand "${python.name}-tests-${name}" ({
+    inherit (python) pythonVersion;
+  } // attrs) ''
+    cp -r ${./tests} tests
+    chmod -R +w tests
+    substituteAllInPlace tests/test_python.py
+    ${attrs.interpreter} -m unittest discover --verbose tests #/test_python.py
+    mkdir $out
+    touch $out/success
+  '';
+
+in lib.mapAttrs testfun envs 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/tests/test_python.py b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/tests/test_python.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f631a172ccc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/tests/test_python.py
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+"""
+Python interpreter and environment tests.
+
+These need to be executed with the standard library unittest.
+Third party test runners such as pytest cannot be used because
+that would interfere with the tests.
+"""
+
+import platform
+import sys
+import unittest
+import site
+
+
+ENV = "@env@"
+INTERPRETER = "@interpreter@"
+PYTHON_VERSION = "@pythonVersion@"
+
+IS_VENV = @is_venv@
+IS_NIXENV = @is_nixenv@
+IS_PYPY = platform.python_implementation() == "PyPy"
+
+
+class TestCasePython(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    @unittest.skipIf(IS_PYPY, "Executable is incorrect and needs to be fixed.")
+    def test_interpreter(self):
+        self.assertEqual(sys.executable, INTERPRETER)
+
+    @unittest.skipIf(IS_NIXENV or IS_PYPY, "Prefix is incorrect and needs to be fixed.")
+    def test_prefix(self):
+        self.assertEqual(sys.prefix, ENV)
+        self.assertEqual(sys.prefix, sys.exec_prefix)
+
+    def test_site_prefix(self):
+        self.assertTrue(sys.prefix in site.PREFIXES)
+
+    @unittest.skipIf(sys.version_info.major==2, "Python 2 does not have base_prefix")
+    def test_base_prefix(self):
+        if IS_VENV:
+            self.assertNotEqual(sys.prefix, sys.base_prefix)
+        else:
+            self.assertEqual(sys.prefix, sys.base_prefix)
+
+    def test_python_version(self):
+        self.assertTrue(platform.python_version().startswith(PYTHON_VERSION))
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()