diff --git a/gnu/packages/databases.scm b/gnu/packages/databases.scm
index 301aab2406..1fc6ababe4 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/databases.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/databases.scm
@@ -239,33 +239,19 @@ ElasticSearch server")
 (define-public leveldb
   (package
     (name "leveldb")
-    (version "1.20")
+    (version "1.21")
     (source (origin
               (method git-fetch)
               (uri (git-reference
                     (url "https://github.com/google/leveldb")
-                    (commit (string-append "v" version))))
+                    (commit version)))
               (file-name (git-file-name name version))
               (sha256
                (base32
-                "01kxga1hv4wp94agx5vl3ybxfw5klqrdsrb6p6ywvnjmjxm8322y"))))
-    (build-system gnu-build-system)
+                "00v0w6883z7a6204894j59nd5v6dazn3c8hvh3sbczv4wiabppw2"))))
+    (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (arguments
-     '(#:make-flags (list "CC=gcc")
-       #:phases
-       (modify-phases %standard-phases
-         (delete 'configure)
-         (replace 'install
-           ;; There is no install target, so we do it here.
-           (lambda* (#:key outputs #:allow-other-keys)
-             (let* ((out (assoc-ref outputs "out"))
-                    (lib (string-append out "/lib"))
-                    (include (string-append out "/include")))
-               (for-each (lambda (file)
-                           (install-file file lib))
-                         (find-files "out-shared" "^libleveldb\\.so.*$"))
-               (copy-recursively "include" include)
-               #t))))))
+     `(#:configure-flags '("-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON" "-DLEVELDB_BUILD_TESTS=ON")))
     (inputs
      `(("snappy" ,snappy)))
     (home-page "http://leveldb.org/")