diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/math/maxima/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/math/maxima/default.nix
index 49ff0d5d5a050..5f3d06507709e 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/math/maxima/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/math/maxima/default.nix
@@ -1,26 +1,56 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, fetchpatch, sbcl, texinfo, perl, python, makeWrapper, rlwrap ? null
-, tk ? null, gnuplot ? null, ecl ? null, ecl-fasl ? false
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, fetchpatch, gnuplot, texinfo, perl, python, makeWrapper
+, withSbcl ? true, sbcl
+, withEcl ? false, ecl
+, withRlwrap ? false, rlwrap
+, withTk ? false, tk
+, withTests ? false
 }:
 
+#Either SBCL or ECL but not both of them can be used.
+assert withSbcl != withEcl;
+
 let
-  name    = "maxima";
-  version = "5.42.2";
 
-  searchPath =
-    stdenv.lib.makeBinPath
-      (stdenv.lib.filter (x: x != null) [ sbcl ecl rlwrap tk gnuplot ]);
+  # Fetch a patch from the SageMath Git repository.
+  fetchPatchFromSage = { name, rev, hash } @args : (
+    fetchpatch {
+      inherit name;
+      url = "https://git.sagemath.org/sage.git/plain/build/pkgs/maxima/patches/${name}?id=${rev}";
+      sha256 = hash;
+    }
+  );
+
+  searchPath = stdenv.lib.makeBinPath ([
+  ] ++ stdenv.lib.optionals withSbcl [
+    sbcl
+  ] ++ stdenv.lib.optionals withEcl [
+    ecl
+  ] ++ stdenv.lib.optionals withRlwrap [
+    rlwrap
+  ] ++ stdenv.lib.optionals withTk [
+    tk
+  ] ++ stdenv.lib.optionals withTests [
+    gnuplot
+  ]);
+
 in
-stdenv.mkDerivation ({
-  inherit version;
-  name = "${name}-${version}";
+stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+  pname = "maxima";
+  version = "5.42.2";
+  name = "${pname}-${version}";
 
   src = fetchurl {
-    url = "mirror://sourceforge/${name}/${name}-${version}.tar.gz";
+    url = "mirror://sourceforge/${pname}/${name}.tar.gz";
     sha256 = "0kdncy6137sg3rradirxzj10mkcvafxd892zlclwhr9sa7b12zhn";
   };
 
-  buildInputs = stdenv.lib.filter (x: x != null) [
-    sbcl ecl texinfo perl python makeWrapper
+  buildInputs = [
+    texinfo perl python makeWrapper
+  ] ++ stdenv.lib.optionals withSbcl [
+    sbcl
+  ] ++ stdenv.lib.optionals withEcl [
+    ecl
+  ] ++ stdenv.lib.optionals withTests [
     gnuplot   # required in the test suite
   ];
 
@@ -34,41 +64,47 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation ({
     ln -s ../maxima/${version}/emacs $out/share/emacs/site-lisp
     ln -s ../maxima/${version}/doc $out/share/doc/maxima
   ''
-   + (stdenv.lib.optionalString ecl-fasl ''
+   + (stdenv.lib.optionalString withEcl ''
      cp src/binary-ecl/maxima.fas* "$out/lib/maxima/${version}/binary-ecl/"
    '')
   ;
 
   patches = [
     # fix path to info dir (see https://trac.sagemath.org/ticket/11348)
-    (fetchpatch {
-      url = "https://git.sagemath.org/sage.git/plain/build/pkgs/maxima/patches/infodir.patch?id=07d6c37d18811e2b377a9689790a7c5e24da16ba";
-      sha256 = "09v64n60f7i6frzryrj0zd056lvdpms3ajky4f9p6kankhbiv21x";
+    (fetchPatchFromSage {
+      name = "infodir.patch";
+      rev  = "07d6c37d18811e2b377a9689790a7c5e24da16ba";
+      hash = "09v64n60f7i6frzryrj0zd056lvdpms3ajky4f9p6kankhbiv21x";
     })
 
     # fix https://sourceforge.net/p/maxima/bugs/2596/
-    (fetchpatch {
-      url = "https://git.sagemath.org/sage.git/plain/build/pkgs/maxima/patches/matrixexp.patch?id=07d6c37d18811e2b377a9689790a7c5e24da16ba";
-      sha256 = "06961hn66rhjijfvyym21h39wk98sfxhp051da6gz0n9byhwc6zg";
+    (fetchPatchFromSage {
+      name = "matrixexp.patch";
+      rev  = "07d6c37d18811e2b377a9689790a7c5e24da16ba";
+      hash = "06961hn66rhjijfvyym21h39wk98sfxhp051da6gz0n9byhwc6zg";
     })
 
-    # undo https://sourceforge.net/p/maxima/code/ci/f5e9b0f7eb122c4e48ea9df144dd57221e5ea0ca, see see https://trac.sagemath.org/ticket/13364#comment:93
-    (fetchpatch {
-      url = "https://git.sagemath.org/sage.git/plain/build/pkgs/maxima/patches/undoing_true_false_printing_patch.patch?id=07d6c37d18811e2b377a9689790a7c5e24da16ba";
-      sha256 = "0fvi3rcjv6743sqsbgdzazy9jb6r1p1yq63zyj9fx42wd1hgf7yx";
+    # undo https://sourceforge.net/p/maxima/code/ci/f5e9b0f7eb122c4e48ea9df144dd57221e5ea0ca
+    # see https://trac.sagemath.org/ticket/13364#comment:93
+    (fetchPatchFromSage {
+      name = "undoing_true_false_printing_patch.patch";
+      rev  = "07d6c37d18811e2b377a9689790a7c5e24da16ba";
+      hash = "0fvi3rcjv6743sqsbgdzazy9jb6r1p1yq63zyj9fx42wd1hgf7yx";
     })
 
     # upstream bug https://sourceforge.net/p/maxima/bugs/2520/ (not fixed)
     # introduced in https://trac.sagemath.org/ticket/13364
-    (fetchpatch {
-      url = "https://git.sagemath.org/sage.git/plain/build/pkgs/maxima/patches/0001-taylor2-Avoid-blowing-the-stack-when-diff-expand-isn.patch?id=07d6c37d18811e2b377a9689790a7c5e24da16ba";
-      sha256 = "0xa0b6cr458zp7lc7qi0flv5ar0r3ivsqhjl0c3clv86di2y522d";
+    (fetchPatchFromSage {
+      name = "0001-taylor2-Avoid-blowing-the-stack-when-diff-expand-isn.patch";
+      rev  = "07d6c37d18811e2b377a9689790a7c5e24da16ba";
+      hash = "0xa0b6cr458zp7lc7qi0flv5ar0r3ivsqhjl0c3clv86di2y522d";
     })
-  ] ++ stdenv.lib.optionals ecl-fasl [
+  ] ++ stdenv.lib.optionals withEcl [
     # build fasl, needed for ECL support
-    (fetchpatch {
-      url = "https://git.sagemath.org/sage.git/plain/build/pkgs/maxima/patches/maxima.system.patch?id=07d6c37d18811e2b377a9689790a7c5e24da16ba";
-      sha256 = "18zafig8vflhkr80jq2ivk46k92dkszqlyq8cfmj0b2vcfjwwbar";
+    (fetchPatchFromSage {
+      name = "maxima.system.patch";
+      rev  = "07d6c37d18811e2b377a9689790a7c5e24da16ba";
+      hash = "18zafig8vflhkr80jq2ivk46k92dkszqlyq8cfmj0b2vcfjwwbar";
     })
   ];
 
@@ -76,20 +112,18 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation ({
   #
   #   Errors found in /build/maxima-5.42.2/share/linearalgebra/rtest_matrixexp.mac, problems:
   #   (20 21 22)
-  #   Error found in rtest_arag, problem:
-  #   (error break)
-  #   3 tests failed out of 3,881 total tests.
+  #   3 tests failed out of 3,988 total tests.
   #
   # These failures don't look serious. It would be nice to fix them, but I
   # don't know how and probably won't have the time to find out.
-  doCheck = false;    # try to re-enable after next version update
+  doCheck = withTests;    # try to re-enable after next version update
 
   enableParallelBuilding = true;
 
-  meta = {
+  meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     description = "Computer algebra system";
     homepage = "http://maxima.sourceforge.net";
-    license = stdenv.lib.licenses.gpl2;
+    license = licenses.gpl2;
 
     longDescription = ''
       Maxima is a fairly complete computer algebra system written in
@@ -98,7 +132,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation ({
       symbolic integration, 3D plotting, and an ODE solver.
     '';
 
-    platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.unix;
-    maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.peti ];
+    platforms = platforms.unix;
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ peti ];
   };
-})
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 3449b43773423..7739b81095046 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -26761,13 +26761,11 @@ in
   geogebra = callPackage ../applications/science/math/geogebra { };
   geogebra6 = callPackage ../applications/science/math/geogebra/geogebra6.nix { };
 
-  maxima = callPackage ../applications/science/math/maxima {
-    ecl = null;
-  };
+  maxima = callPackage ../applications/science/math/maxima { };
   maxima-ecl = maxima.override {
     ecl = ecl_16_1_2;
-    ecl-fasl = true;
-    sbcl = null;
+    withEcl = true;
+    withSbcl = false;
   };
 
   mxnet = callPackage ../applications/science/math/mxnet {