diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/default.nix
index afb230cf4287..1f540cc2b287 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/math/sage/default.nix
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ let
       pybrial = self.callPackage ./pybrial.nix {};
 
       sagelib = self.callPackage ./sagelib.nix {
-        inherit flint ecl pari glpk eclib;
+        inherit flint ecl pari glpk eclib ntl arb;
         inherit sage-src openblas-blas-pc openblas-cblas-pc openblas-lapack-pc pynac singular;
         linbox = nixpkgs.linbox.override { withSage = true; };
       };
@@ -47,13 +47,13 @@ let
       };
 
       sage-env = self.callPackage ./sage-env.nix {
-        inherit sage-src python rWrapper openblas-cblas-pc glpk ecl singular eclib pari palp flint pynac pythonEnv;
+        inherit sage-src python rWrapper openblas-cblas-pc glpk ecl singular eclib pari palp flint pynac pythonEnv giac ntl;
         pkg-config = nixpkgs.pkgconfig; # not to confuse with pythonPackages.pkgconfig
       };
 
       sage-with-env = self.callPackage ./sage-with-env.nix {
-        inherit pari eclib pythonEnv;
-        inherit sage-src openblas-blas-pc openblas-cblas-pc openblas-lapack-pc pynac singular;
+        inherit pari eclib pythonEnv ntl;
+        inherit sage-src openblas-blas-pc openblas-cblas-pc openblas-lapack-pc pynac singular giac;
         pkg-config = nixpkgs.pkgconfig; # not to confuse with pythonPackages.pkgconfig
         three = nodePackages_8_x.three;
       };
@@ -108,10 +108,23 @@ let
     });
   };
 
+  # https://trac.sagemath.org/ticket/25532
+  ntl = nixpkgs.ntl.overrideAttrs (oldAttrs: rec {
+    name = "ntl-10.5.0";
+    sourceRoot = "${name}/src";
+    src = fetchurl {
+      url = "http://www.shoup.net/ntl/${name}.tar.gz";
+      sha256 = "1lmldaldgfr2b2a6585m3np5ds8bq1bis2s1ajycjm49vp4kc2xr";
+    };
+  });
+
+  giac = nixpkgs.giac.override { inherit ntl; };
+  arb = nixpkgs.arb.override { inherit flint; };
+
   # update causes issues
   # https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/sage-packaging/cS3v05Q0zso
   # https://trac.sagemath.org/ticket/24735
-  singular = nixpkgs.singular.overrideAttrs (oldAttrs: {
+  singular = (nixpkgs.singular.override { inherit ntl flint; }).overrideAttrs (oldAttrs: {
     name = "singular-4.1.0p3";
     src = fetchurl {
       url = "http://www.mathematik.uni-kl.de/ftp/pub/Math/Singular/SOURCES/4-1-0/singular-4.1.0p3.tar.gz";
@@ -121,15 +134,15 @@ let
 
   # *not* to confuse with the python package "pynac"
   # https://trac.sagemath.org/ticket/24838 (depends on arb update)
-  pynac = nixpkgs.pynac.override { inherit singular; };
+  pynac = nixpkgs.pynac.override { inherit singular flint; };
 
-  eclib = nixpkgs.eclib.override { inherit pari; };
+  eclib = nixpkgs.eclib.override { inherit pari ntl; };
 
   # With openblas (64 bit), the tests fail the same way as when sage is build with
   # openblas instead of openblasCompat. Apparently other packages somehow use flints
   # blas when it is available. Alternative would be to override flint to use
   # openblasCompat.
-  flint = nixpkgs.flint.override { withBlas = false; };
+  flint = nixpkgs.flint.override { withBlas = false; inherit ntl; };
 
   # Multiple palp dimensions need to be available and sage expects them all to be
   # in the same folder.
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/flint/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/flint/default.nix
index 67bf7503db98..2b3f75b80dbd 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/flint/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/flint/default.nix
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   ] ++ stdenv.lib.optionals withBlas [
     "--with-blas=${openblas}"
   ];
+
+  # issues with ntl -- https://github.com/wbhart/flint2/issues/487
+  NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = [ "-std=c++11" ];
+
   patches = [
     (fetchpatch {
       # Always produce libflint.so.MAJOR; will be included in the next flint version
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/ntl/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/ntl/default.nix
index 32467e4849b5..ab50cf1e17ca 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/ntl/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/ntl/default.nix
@@ -1,27 +1,60 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, perl, gmp, libtool
+{ stdenv
+, lib
+, fetchurl
+, perl
+, gmp
+, gf2x ? null
+# I asked the ntl maintainer weather or not to include gf2x by default:
+# > If I remember correctly, gf2x is now thread safe, so there's no reason not to use it.
+, withGf2x ? true
+, tune ? false # tune for current system; non reproducible and time consuming
 }:
 
+assert withGf2x -> gf2x != null;
+
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   name = "ntl-${version}";
-  version = "9.11.0";
+  version = "11.2.1";
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "http://www.shoup.net/ntl/ntl-${version}.tar.gz";
-    sha256 = "1wcwxpcby1c50llncz131334qq26lzh3dz21rahymgvakrq0369p";
+    sha256 = "04avzmqflx2a33n7v9jj32g83p7m6z712fg1mw308jk5ca2qp489";
   };
 
-  buildInputs = [ perl gmp libtool ];
+  buildInputs = [
+    gmp
+  ];
+
+  nativeBuildInputs = [
+    perl # needed for ./configure
+  ];
 
   sourceRoot = "${name}/src";
 
   enableParallelBuilding = true;
 
-  dontAddPrefix = true;
+  dontAddPrefix = true; # DEF_PREFIX instead
 
-  configureFlags = [ "DEF_PREFIX=$(out)" "WIZARD=off" "SHARED=on" "NATIVE=off" "CXX=c++" ];
+  # reference: http://shoup.net/ntl/doc/tour-unix.html
+  configureFlags = [
+    "DEF_PREFIX=$(out)"
+    "SHARED=on" # genereate a shared library (as well as static)
+    "NATIVE=off" # don't target code to current hardware (reproducibility, portability)
+    "TUNE=${
+      if tune then
+        "auto"
+      else if stdenv.targetPlatform.isx86 then
+        "x86" # "chooses options that should be well suited for most x86 platforms"
+      else
+        "generic" # "chooses options that should be OK for most platforms"
+    }"
+  ] ++ lib.optionals withGf2x [
+    "NTL_GF2X_LIB=on"
+    "GF2X_PREFIX=${gf2x}"
+  ];
 
-  # doCheck = true; # takes some time
+  doCheck = true; # takes some time
 
-  meta = {
+  meta = with lib; {
     description = "A Library for doing Number Theory";
     longDescription = ''
       NTL is a high-performance, portable C++ library providing data
@@ -30,7 +63,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
       the integers and over finite fields.
     '';
     homepage = http://www.shoup.net/ntl/;
-    license = stdenv.lib.licenses.gpl2Plus;
-    platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ timokau ];
+    license = licenses.gpl2Plus;
+    platforms = platforms.all;
   };
 }