diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 77d8b03d69..93fe096ed1 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ jobs:
       - CIBW_SKIP: '*-musllinux_*'
       - CIBW_MANYLINUX_AARCH64_IMAGE: manylinux2014_base_aarch64
       - CIBW_MANYLINUX_PYPY_AARCH64_IMAGE: manylinux2014_base_aarch64
-      - CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD: pip install Sphinx"<7.2.0" && python setup.py docs
+      - CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD: pip install -r requirements-dev.txt && python setup.py docs
       - CIBW_TEST_COMMAND: python -m pygame.tests -v --exclude opengl,music,timing --time_out 300
       - CIBW_BUILD_VERBOSITY: 2
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-macos.yml b/.github/workflows/build-macos.yml
index 94b299610f..23ea200a25 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-macos.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-macos.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 name: macOS
 
-# Run CI only when a release is created, on changes to main branch, or any PR 
-# to main. Do not run CI on any other branch. Also, skip any non-source changes 
+# Run CI only when a release is created, on changes to main branch, or any PR
+# to main. Do not run CI on any other branch. Also, skip any non-source changes
 # from running on CI
 on:
   push:
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ on:
       - '.github/workflows/*.yml'
       # re-include current file to not be excluded
       - '!.github/workflows/build-macos.yml'
-  
+
   # the github release drafter can call this workflow
   workflow_call:
 
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/cache@v4.0.2
         with:
           path: ${{ github.workspace }}/pygame_mac_deps_${{ matrix.macarch }}
-          # The hash of all files in buildconfig manylinux-build and macdependencies is 
+          # The hash of all files in buildconfig manylinux-build and macdependencies is
           # the key to the cache. If anything changes here, the deps are built again
           key: macdep-${{ hashFiles('buildconfig/manylinux-build/**') }}-${{ hashFiles('buildconfig/macdependencies/*.sh') }}-${{ matrix.macarch }}-${{ matrix.os }}
           lookup-only: true
@@ -86,14 +86,14 @@ jobs:
         # builds on macOS. This needs to be manually kept updated so that each
         # of these builds take roughly the same time
         include:
-          - { 
+          - {
             name: "x86_64 (CPython 3.9 - 3.12)",
             macarch: x86_64,
             os: macos-13,
             pyversions: "cp3{9,10,11,12}-*",
           }
 
-          - { 
+          - {
             name: "x86_64 (Python 3.8)",
             macarch: x86_64,
             os: macos-13,
@@ -101,21 +101,21 @@ jobs:
             pyversions: "?p38-*",
           }
 
-          - { 
+          - {
             name: "x86_64 (PyPy 3.9 and 3.10)",
             macarch: x86_64,
             os: macos-13,
             pyversions: "pp39-* pp310-*",
           }
 
-          - { 
+          - {
             name: "arm64 (CPython 3.8 - 3.10)",
             macarch: arm64,
             os: macos-14,
             pyversions: "cp3{8,9,10}-*",
           }
 
-          - { 
+          - {
             name: "arm64 (CPython 3.11 - 3.12)",
             macarch: arm64,
             os: macos-14,
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ jobs:
         bash ./install_mac_deps.sh
 
       CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD: |
-        pip install numpy Sphinx"<7.2.0"
+        pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
         python setup.py docs
         cp -r ${{ github.workspace }}/pygame_mac_deps_${{ matrix.macarch }} ${{ github.workspace }}/pygame_mac_deps
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-manylinux.yml b/.github/workflows/build-manylinux.yml
index 12d1094bdd..ba5417c24f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-manylinux.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-manylinux.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 name: ManyLinux
 
-# Run CI only when a release is created, on changes to main branch, or any PR 
-# to main. Do not run CI on any other branch. Also, skip any non-source changes 
+# Run CI only when a release is created, on changes to main branch, or any PR
+# to main. Do not run CI on any other branch. Also, skip any non-source changes
 # from running on CI
 on:
   push:
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ on:
       - '.github/workflows/*.yml'
       # re-include current file to not be excluded
       - '!.github/workflows/build-manylinux.yml'
-  
+
   # the github release drafter can call this workflow
   workflow_call:
 
@@ -42,12 +42,12 @@ jobs:
     permissions:
       contents: read
       packages: write
-    
+
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false  # if a particular matrix build fails, don't skip the rest
       matrix:
         arch: [x86_64, i686]
-    
+
     env:
       # load pip config from this file. Define this in 'CIBW_ENVIRONMENT'
       # because this should not affect cibuildwheel machinery
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ jobs:
 
       # command that runs before every build
       CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD: |
-        pip install Sphinx"<7.2.0"
+        pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
         python setup.py docs
 
       CIBW_TEST_COMMAND: python -m pygame.tests -v --exclude opengl,music,timing --time_out 300
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ jobs:
         registry: ghcr.io
         username: ${{ github.actor }}
         password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-    
+
     - name: Inspect image, skip build if image exists
       id: inspect
       continue-on-error: true
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-ubuntu-sdist.yml b/.github/workflows/build-ubuntu-sdist.yml
index dd4300c697..8ad6c7edb6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-ubuntu-sdist.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-ubuntu-sdist.yml
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@
 
 name: Ubuntu sdist
 
-# Run CI only when a release is created, on changes to main branch, or any PR 
-# to main. Do not run CI on any other branch. Also, skip any non-source changes 
+# Run CI only when a release is created, on changes to main branch, or any PR
+# to main. Do not run CI on any other branch. Also, skip any non-source changes
 # from running on CI
 on:
   push:
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ on:
       - '.github/workflows/*.yml'
       # re-include current file to not be excluded
       - '!.github/workflows/build-ubuntu-sdist.yml'
-  
+
   # the github release drafter can call this workflow
   workflow_call:
 
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   build:
-    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}  
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false  # if a particular matrix build fails, don't skip the rest
       matrix:
@@ -61,8 +61,8 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         sudo apt-get update --fix-missing
         sudo apt-get install libsdl2-dev libsdl2-image-dev libsdl2-mixer-dev libsdl2-ttf-dev libfreetype6-dev libportmidi-dev python3-setuptools python3-dev
-        pip3 install --upgrade pip
         pip3 install sphinx"<7.2.0" numpy>=1.21.0
+        pip3 install -r requirements-dev.txt
 
     - name: Make sdist and install it
       run: |
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ jobs:
         SDL_VIDEODRIVER: "dummy"
         SDL_AUDIODRIVER: "disk"
       run: python3 -m pygame.tests -v --exclude opengl,music,timing --time_out 300
-    
+
     - name: Test typestubs
       if: matrix.os == 'ubuntu-22.04' # run stubtest only once
       run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-windows.yml b/.github/workflows/build-windows.yml
index 578e627c87..24bc47572e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-windows.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-windows.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-name: Windows
 
 # Run CI only when a release is created, on changes to main branch, or any PR
 # to main. Do not run CI on any other branch. Also, skip any non-source changes
@@ -27,7 +26,7 @@ on:
       - '.github/workflows/*.yml'
       # re-include current file to not be excluded
       - '!.github/workflows/build-windows.yml'
-  
+
   # the github release drafter can call this workflow
   workflow_call:
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/format-lint.yml b/.github/workflows/format-lint.yml
index 2b95feaf30..870b5e6aa7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/format-lint.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/format-lint.yml
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4.1.6
 
       - name: Install deps
-        run: python3 -m pip install pylint sphinx"<7.2.0"
+        run: python3 -m pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
 
       - name: Check code linting
         run: pylint src_py docs
diff --git a/buildconfig/manylinux-build/build-wheels.sh b/buildconfig/manylinux-build/build-wheels.sh
index bd29eed03a..01ff3ecf6f 100755
--- a/buildconfig/manylinux-build/build-wheels.sh
+++ b/buildconfig/manylinux-build/build-wheels.sh
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ for PYVER in $SUPPORTED_PYTHONS; do
 	    PYTHON="/opt/python/${PYVER}/bin/pypy"
 	fi
 
-    ${PYTHON} -m pip install Sphinx
+    ${PYTHON} -m pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
     cd io
     ${PYTHON} setup.py docs
     cd ..
diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..68cf44c391
--- /dev/null
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+numpy
+pylint<=3.1.0
+meson
\ No newline at end of file