diff --git a/environment.yml b/environment.yml
index 5873831080..518371a96e 100644
--- a/environment.yml
+++ b/environment.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ dependencies:
   - jinja2
   - nc-time-axis
   - nested-lookup
-  - netcdf4!=1.6.1  # github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValCore/issues/1723
+  - netcdf4<1.6.1  # github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValCore/issues/1723
   - numpy
   - pandas
   - pillow
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 291b9955d0..aff8f56e4c 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
         'jinja2',
         'nc-time-axis',  # needed by iris.plot
         'nested-lookup',
-        'netCDF4!=1.6.1',  # github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValCore/issues/1723
+        'netCDF4<1.6.1',  # github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValCore/issues/1723
         'numpy',
         'pandas',
         'pillow',