diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/blender/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/blender/default.nix
index 01374737f585d..59fd3f915656a 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/blender/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/blender/default.nix
@@ -95,6 +95,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   cmakeFlags =
     [
       "-DWITH_ALEMBIC=ON"
+      # Blender supplies its own FindAlembic.cmake (incompatible with the Alembic-supplied config file)
+      "-DALEMBIC_INCLUDE_DIR=${lib.getDev alembic}/include"
+      "-DALEMBIC_LIBRARY=${lib.getLib alembic}/lib/libAlembic.so"
       "-DWITH_MOD_OCEANSIM=ON"
       "-DWITH_CODEC_FFMPEG=ON"
       "-DWITH_CODEC_SNDFILE=ON"
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/alembic/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/alembic/default.nix
index c7bc4894e15ba..bff46622d45e5 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/alembic/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/alembic/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ lib, stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, unzip, cmake, openexr, hdf5-threadsafe }:
+{ lib, stdenv, fetchFromGitHub, cmake, openexr, hdf5-threadsafe, ilmbase }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec
 {
@@ -12,26 +12,50 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec
     sha256 = "sha256-8dQhOQN0t2Y2kC2wOpQUqbu6Woy4DUmiLqXjf1D+mxE=";
   };
 
+  # note: out is unused (but required for outputDoc anyway)
   outputs = [ "bin" "dev" "out" "lib" ];
 
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ unzip cmake ];
-  buildInputs = [ openexr hdf5-threadsafe ];
+  # Prevent cycle between bin and dev (only occurs on Darwin for some reason)
+  propagatedBuildOutputs = [ "lib" ];
 
-  buildPhase = ''
-    cmake -DUSE_HDF5=ON -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$out/ -DUSE_TESTS=OFF .
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ cmake ];
 
-    mkdir $out
-    mkdir -p $bin/bin
-    mkdir -p $dev/include
-    mkdir -p $lib/lib
-  '';
+  # NOTE: Alembic also support imath instead of ilmbase, but some users of Alembic (e.g. Blender)
+  # are incompatible with the imath version of Alembic
+  buildInputs = [ openexr hdf5-threadsafe ilmbase ];
+
+  # Downstream packages trying to use Alembic via CMake need ilmbase as well
+  # For some reason this won't be picked up correctly otherwise
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [ ilmbase ];
+
+  # These flags along with the postPatch step ensure that all artifacts end up
+  # in the correct output without needing to move anything
+  #
+  # - bin: Uses CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR (set via CMake setup hooK)
+  # - lib (contains shared libraries): Uses ALEMBIC_LIB_INSTALL_DIR
+  # - dev (headers): Uses CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX
+  #   (this works because every other install rule uses an absolute DESTINATION)
+  # - dev (CMake files): Uses ConfigPackageLocation
 
-  installPhase = ''
-    make install
+  cmakeFlags = [
+    "-DUSE_HDF5=ON"
+    "-DUSE_TESTS=ON"
+    "-DALEMBIC_LIB_INSTALL_DIR=${placeholder "lib"}/lib"
+    "-DConfigPackageLocation=${placeholder "dev"}/lib/cmake/Alembic"
+    "-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${placeholder "dev"}"
+    "-DQUIET=ON"
+  ];
+
+  postPatch = ''
+    find bin/ -type f -name CMakeLists.txt -print -exec \
+      sed -i 's/INSTALL(TARGETS \([a-zA-Z ]*\) DESTINATION bin)/INSTALL(TARGETS \1)/' {} \;
+  '';
 
-    mv $out/bin $bin/
-    mv $out/lib $lib/
-    mv $out/include $dev/
+  doCheck = true;
+  checkPhase = ''
+    runHook preCheck
+    ctest -j 1
+    runHook postCheck
   '';
 
   meta = with lib; {
@@ -39,6 +63,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec
     homepage = "http://alembic.io/";
     license = licenses.bsd3;
     platforms = platforms.all;
-    maintainers = [ maintainers.guibou ];
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ guibou tmarkus ];
   };
 }