diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/ninja/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/ninja/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6edf6d78878
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/ninja/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, unzip, python, asciidoc, re2c }:
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+  name = "ninja-${version}";
+  version = "1.2.0";
+
+  src = fetchurl {
+    url = "https://github.com/martine/ninja/archive/v${version}.zip";
+    sha256 = "15ynh806ah37bqb57hcs3mj2g82900sncp6n3bssfggb4azgjlh3";
+  };
+
+  buildInputs = [ python asciidoc unzip re2c ];
+
+  buildPhase = ''
+    python bootstrap.py
+    asciidoc doc/manual.asciidoc
+  '';
+
+  installPhase = ''
+    mkdir -p $out/bin
+    cp ninja $out/bin/
+
+    mkdir -p $out/share/doc/ninja
+    cp doc/manual.asciidoc $out/share/doc/ninja/
+    cp doc/manual.html $out/share/doc/ninja/
+  '';
+
+  meta = {
+    description = "Small build system with a focus on speed";
+    longDescription = ''
+      Ninja is a small build system with a focus on speed. It differs from
+      other build systems in two major respects: it is designed to have its
+      input files generated by a higher-level build system, and it is designed
+      to run builds as fast as possible.
+    '';
+    homepage = http://martine.github.io/ninja/;
+    license = stdenv.lib.licenses.asl20;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 6e31d304297..852f9a70939 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -3328,6 +3328,8 @@ let
     licenseAccepted = (config.neoload.accept_license or false);
   };
 
+  ninja = callPackage ../development/tools/build-managers/ninja { };
+
   noweb = callPackage ../development/tools/literate-programming/noweb { };
 
   omake = callPackage ../development/tools/ocaml/omake { };
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
index dd62e3b868b..b764667d826 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix
@@ -2603,28 +2603,6 @@ pythonPackages = python.modules // rec {
    };
  });
 
-  ninja = pkgs.stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
-    name = "ninja-1.2.0";
-    src = fetchurl {
-      url = "https://github.com/martine/ninja/archive/v1.2.0.zip";
-      sha256 = "15ynh806ah37bqb57hcs3mj2g82900sncp6n3bssfggb4azgjlh3";
-    };
-    buildInputs = [ python pkgs.asciidoc pkgs.unzip pkgs.re2c ];
-    buildPhase = ''
-      python bootstrap.py
-      asciidoc doc/manual.asciidoc
-    '';
-    installPhase = ''
-      mkdir -p $out/bin
-      cp ninja $out/bin/
-
-      mkdir -p $out/share/doc/ninja
-      cp doc/manual.asciidoc $out/share/doc/ninja/
-      cp doc/manual.html $out/share/doc/ninja/
-    '';
-    homepage = http://martine.github.io/ninja/;
-  };
-
   nose = buildPythonPackage rec {
     name = "nose-1.2.1";