diff --git a/environment.yml b/environment.yml
index 7e4d6b11ad..c19f1bb809 100644
--- a/environment.yml
+++ b/environment.yml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ dependencies:
   - esgf-pyclient >=0.3.1
   - esmpy !=8.1.0
   - filelock
-  - fiona
+  - fiona==1.9.4  # force compat with py312 TODO remove when stable
   - fire
   - geopy
   - humanfriendly