diff --git a/.github/workflows/CI.yaml b/.github/workflows/CI.yaml
index 65d016be..676562b6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/CI.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/CI.yaml
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           conda config --append channels conda-forge
           conda install pytest pytest-cov
-          conda install scipy numpy 'matplotlib>=3.6.1' 'pandas>=2.0.0'
+          conda install scipy numpy 'matplotlib>=3.6.1,<3.9.0' 'pandas>=2.0.0,<2.2.0'
 
       - name: Test with pytest
         shell: bash -l {0}
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index dfb8e89c..6a6ad009 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 anesthetic: nested sampling post-processing
 ===========================================
 :Authors: Will Handley and Lukas Hergt
-:Version: 2.8.0
+:Version: 2.8.1
 :Homepage: https://github.com/handley-lab/anesthetic
 :Documentation: http://anesthetic.readthedocs.io/
 
diff --git a/anesthetic/_version.py b/anesthetic/_version.py
index f2df444a..80e22f7a 100644
--- a/anesthetic/_version.py
+++ b/anesthetic/_version.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-__version__ = '2.8.0'
+__version__ = '2.8.1'