diff --git a/gnu/local.mk b/gnu/local.mk
index 4dcc547..b38fef3 100644
--- a/gnu/local.mk
+++ b/gnu/local.mk
@@ -597,6 +597,7 @@ dist_patch_DATA =						\
   %D%/packages/patches/khmer-use-libraries.patch                \
   %D%/packages/patches/kmod-module-directory.patch		\
   %D%/packages/patches/ldc-disable-tests.patch			\
+  %D%/packages/patches/ldc-0.17.1-disable-tests.patch		\
   %D%/packages/patches/lftp-dont-save-unknown-host-fingerprint.patch \
   %D%/packages/patches/liba52-enable-pic.patch			\
   %D%/packages/patches/liba52-link-with-libm.patch		\
diff --git a/gnu/packages/ldc.scm b/gnu/packages/ldc.scm
index 601804a..6b073b8 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/ldc.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/ldc.scm
@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@
   #:use-module (gnu packages libedit)
   #:use-module (gnu packages llvm)
   #:use-module (gnu packages textutils)
-  #:use-module (gnu packages zip))
+  #:use-module (gnu packages zip)
+  #:use-module (gnu packages python)
+  #:use-module (gnu packages compression))
 
 (define-public rdmd
   (let ((commit "da0a2e0a379b08294015eec9d531f1e5dd4226f0"))
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ and freshness without requiring additional information from the user.")
 (define-public ldc
   (package
     (name "ldc")
-    (version "0.16.1")
+    (version "0.17.1")
     (source (origin
               (method url-fetch)
               (uri (string-append
@@ -84,7 +86,7 @@ and freshness without requiring additional information from the user.")
               (file-name (string-append name "-" version ".tar.gz"))
               (sha256
                (base32
-                "1jvilxx0rpqmkbja4m69fhd5g09697xq7vyqp2hz4hvxmmmv4j40"))))
+                "0rwggnbr60jbajfdw11kx058llmwljiss8rrv8df07vaygiv845i"))))
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     ;; LDC currently only supports the x86_64 and i686 architectures.
     (supported-systems '("x86_64-linux" "i686-linux"))
@@ -101,12 +103,6 @@ and freshness without requiring additional information from the user.")
                (and (unpack "phobos-src" "runtime/phobos")
                     (unpack "druntime-src" "runtime/druntime")
                     (unpack "dmd-testsuite-src" "tests/d2/dmd-testsuite")))))
-         (add-after 'unpack-submodule-sources 'patch-dmd2
-           (lambda* (#:key inputs #:allow-other-keys)
-             (substitute* "dmd2/root/port.c"
-               ((" ::isnan") " isnan")
-               ((" ::isinf") " isinf"))
-             #t))
          (add-after 'unpack-submodule-sources 'patch-phobos
            (lambda* (#:key inputs #:allow-other-keys)
              (substitute* "runtime/phobos/std/process.d"
@@ -117,14 +113,25 @@ and freshness without requiring additional information from the user.")
                 (string-append (assoc-ref inputs "tzdata") "/share/zoneinfo")))
              (substitute* "tests/d2/dmd-testsuite/Makefile"
                (("/bin/bash") (which "bash")))
-             #t)))))
+             #t))
+         (add-after 'unpack-submodule-sources 'patch-dmd2
+           (lambda* (#:key inputs #:allow-other-keys)
+             (substitute* "dmd2/root/port.c"
+               ((" ::isnan") " isnan")
+               ((" ::isinf") " isinf"))
+             #t))
+         (add-before 'check 'prepare-unittests
+           (lambda* (#:key inputs #:allow-other-keys)
+             (zero? (system* "ctest" "--verbose" "-R" "build-phobos2-ldc-unittest")))))))
     (inputs
      `(("libconfig" ,libconfig)
        ("libedit" ,libedit)
-       ("tzdata" ,tzdata)))
+       ("tzdata" ,tzdata)
+       ("zlib" ,zlib)))
     (native-inputs
      `(("llvm" ,llvm)
-       ("clang" ,clang)
+       ("python-wrapper", python-wrapper) ; for tests
+       ("python-lit", python-lit) ; for tests
        ("unzip" ,unzip)
        ("phobos-src"
         ,(origin
@@ -134,8 +141,8 @@ and freshness without requiring additional information from the user.")
                  version ".tar.gz"))
            (sha256
             (base32
-             "0sgdj0536c4nb118yiw1f8lqy5d3g3lpg9l99l165lk9xy45l9z4"))
-           (patches (search-patches "ldc-disable-tests.patch"))))
+             "17nb1yvqblqj3q42c8nlnwvy823fw6kna28n2b48j4m6kd2w0nan"))
+           (patches (search-patches "ldc-0.17.1-disable-tests.patch"))))
        ("druntime-src"
         ,(origin
            (method url-fetch)
@@ -144,7 +151,7 @@ and freshness without requiring additional information from the user.")
                  version ".tar.gz"))
            (sha256
             (base32
-             "0z4mkyddx6c4sy1vqgqvavz55083dsxws681qkh93jh1rpby9yg6"))))
+             "129j7mfd0vnzaw7i6hr5waxm5cb0qcm8gyawy2xy5avlv8hrw5m4"))))
        ("dmd-testsuite-src"
         ,(origin
            (method url-fetch)
@@ -153,7 +160,7 @@ and freshness without requiring additional information from the user.")
                  version ".tar.gz"))
            (sha256
             (base32
-             "0yc6miidzgl9k33ygk7xcppmfd6kivqj02cvv4fmkbs3qz4yy3z1"))))))
+             "18h16lwwmr3k9dh7mcip17il72mz680wnygv9d0mdnivczn80zyv"))))))
     (home-page "http://wiki.dlang.org/LDC")
     (synopsis "LLVM compiler for the D programming language")
     (description
diff --git a/gnu/packages/patches/ldc-0.17.1-disable-tests.patch b/gnu/packages/patches/ldc-0.17.1-disable-tests.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e72df0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gnu/packages/patches/ldc-0.17.1-disable-tests.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+diff -ru a/std/datetime.d b/std/datetime.d
+--- a/std/datetime.d	2016-08-02 23:56:13.969292202 +0200
++++ b/std/datetime.d	2016-08-02 23:57:39.078408313 +0200
+@@ -28080,9 +28080,6 @@
+         import std.algorithm : sort;
+         import std.range : retro;
+         import std.format : format;
+-
+-        name = strip(name);
+-
+         enforce(tzDatabaseDir.exists(), new DateTimeException(format("Directory %s does not exist.", tzDatabaseDir)));
+         enforce(tzDatabaseDir.isDir, new DateTimeException(format("%s is not a directory.", tzDatabaseDir)));
+ 
+@@ -28094,7 +28091,10 @@
+             immutable file = buildNormalizedPath(tzDatabaseDir, tzFilename);
+         }
+         else
+-            immutable file = buildNormalizedPath(tzDatabaseDir, name);
++        {
++            auto filename = "./" ~ strip(name); // make sure the prefix is not stripped
++            immutable file = buildNormalizedPath(tzDatabaseDir, filename);
++        }
+ 
+         enforce(file.exists(), new DateTimeException(format("File %s does not exist.", file)));
+         enforce(file.isFile, new DateTimeException(format("%s is not a file.", file)));
+diff -ru a/std/path.d b/std/path.d
+--- a/std/path.d	2016-08-02 23:56:03.781158908 +0200
++++ b/std/path.d	2016-08-02 23:54:06.111624406 +0200
+@@ -3724,8 +3724,8 @@
+         }
+         else
+         {
+-            assert(expandTilde("~root") == "/root", expandTilde("~root"));
+-            assert(expandTilde("~root/") == "/root/", expandTilde("~root/"));
++            //assert(expandTilde("~root") == "/root", expandTilde("~root"));
++            //assert(expandTilde("~root/") == "/root/", expandTilde("~root/"));
+         }
+         assert(expandTilde("~Idontexist/hey") == "~Idontexist/hey");
+     }
+diff -ru a/std/socket.d b/std/socket.d
+--- a/std/socket.d	2016-08-02 23:56:22.881408857 +0200
++++ b/std/socket.d	2016-08-03 10:09:44.761019447 +0200
+@@ -501,18 +501,19 @@
+ version(CRuntime_Bionic) {} else
+ unittest
+ {
+-    softUnittest({
++    pragma(msg, "test disabled on GNU Guix");
++    //softUnittest({
+         Protocol proto = new Protocol;
+-        assert(proto.getProtocolByType(ProtocolType.TCP));
++        //assert(proto.getProtocolByType(ProtocolType.TCP));
+         //writeln("About protocol TCP:");
+         //writefln("\tName: %s", proto.name);
+         // foreach(string s; proto.aliases)
+         // {
+         //      writefln("\tAlias: %s", s);
+         // }
+-        assert(proto.name == "tcp");
+-        assert(proto.aliases.length == 1 && proto.aliases[0] == "TCP");
+-    });
++        //assert(proto.name == "tcp");
++        //assert(proto.aliases.length == 1 && proto.aliases[0] == "TCP");
++    //});
+ }
+ 
+ 
+@@ -842,6 +843,8 @@
+ 
+ unittest
+ {
++    pragma(msg, "test disabled on GNU Guix");
++    /*
+     InternetHost ih = new InternetHost;
+ 
+     ih.getHostByAddr(0x7F_00_00_01);
+@@ -872,6 +875,7 @@
+         //      writefln("aliases[%d] = %s", i, s);
+         // }
+     });
++    */
+ }
+ 
+