diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index e4eab68dd..85aba3a67 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ dependencies = [
   "netCDF4 >=1.7.2",
   "zarr >=2.15.0,!=2.18.0,<3",
   "tqdm >=4.50.0",
-  "xarray >=2024.5.0",
+  "xarray >=2024.5.0,<2026.4.0", # TODO: remove upper pin when https://github.com/UXARRAY/uxarray/issues/1490 is resolved
   "uxarray >=2025.3.0",
   "pooch >=1.8.0",
   "xgcm >=0.9.0",