diff --git a/ci/environment.yml b/ci/environment.yml
index 01f39d41..bebdbe8a 100644
--- a/ci/environment.yml
+++ b/ci/environment.yml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ channels:
   - conda-forge
 dependencies:
   - xarray>=0.17.0
-  - pandas<1.3 # remove this once https://github.com/pydata/xarray/issues/5581 is released
+  - pandas
   - netcdf4
   - scipy
   - xgcm