pandas-dev/pandas · error · ImportError

Pandas requires version '{minimum_version}' or newer of '{pa

Error message

Pandas requires version '{minimum_version}' or newer of '{parent}' (version '{version}' currently installed).

What it means

Raised by import_optional_dependency (compat/_optional.py:172-188) when an optional dependency IS installed but its version is older than the minimum pandas requires (min_version arg, or the VERSIONS dict default). With errors='raise' (default) it raises ImportError; errors='warn' emits a UserWarning and returns None; errors='ignore' silently returns None. Version comparison uses packaging.Version (via pandas.util.version.Version).

Source

Thrown at pandas/compat/_optional.py:188

    else:
        module_to_get = module
    minimum_version = min_version if min_version is not None else VERSIONS.get(parent)
    if minimum_version:
        version = get_version(module_to_get)
        if version and Version(version) < Version(minimum_version):
            msg = (
                f"Pandas requires version '{minimum_version}' or newer of '{parent}' "
                f"(version '{version}' currently installed)."
            )
            if errors == "warn":
                warnings.warn(
                    msg,
                    UserWarning,
                    stacklevel=find_stack_level(),
                )
                return None
            elif errors == "raise":
                raise ImportError(msg)
            else:
                return None

    return module

View on GitHub (pinned to 71959b8cb9)

Solutions

1. Upgrade the dependency to at least the stated minimum: pip install --upgrade '<pkg>>=<min>'.
2. Check the installed version: python -c 'import <pkg>; print(<pkg>.__version__)'.
3. If upgrading is blocked, downgrade pandas to a release that accepts your older dependency version.
4. If you call import_optional_dependency directly, pass errors='warn' or 'ignore' to tolerate the old version (at your own risk).

Example fix

# before — openpyxl 2.x, pandas needs >= 3.0
pd.read_excel('f.xlsx')

# after
# shell: pip install --upgrade 'openpyxl>=3.0'
pd.read_excel('f.xlsx')

from packaging.version import Version
import importlib
mod = importlib.import_module(name)
installed = getattr(mod, '__version__', None)
if installed is None or Version(installed) < Version(minimum):
    raise ImportError(f'{name}>={minimum} required, got {installed}')

try:
    import_optional_dependency(name, min_version=minimum)
except ImportError:
    # too old — upgrade or fall back to older pandas
    ...

When it happens

Trigger: pandas requires e.g. a minimum numpy/pyarrow/openpyxl/sqlalchemy version (declared in VERSIONS). import_optional_dependency compares Version(installed) < Version(minimum_version) and raises. Hitting it means the package imports but is too old for this pandas release.

Common situations: Upgrading pandas in an environment with stale optional deps (e.g. pandas 2.x needs newer numpy than 1.x); system Python with OS-packaged older libraries; pinning a dependency for compatibility with another tool that needs the old version.

Related errors

• Can't determine version for {module.__name__}
• `Import {install_name}` failed. {extra} Use pip, conda, or y
• Please upgrade numpy to >= {_min_numpy_ver} to use this pand
• pyarrow>={PYARROW_MIN_VERSION} is required for PyArrow backe
• Unable to import required dependency {_dependency}. Please s

AI-assisted analysis of pandas-dev/pandas@71959b8cb9 (2026-08-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f65f38a930cbeb71. Report an issue: GitHub.