diff --git a/ci/install_travis.sh b/ci/install_travis.sh
index 4ec5b0a9d8820..6e270519e60c3 100755
--- a/ci/install_travis.sh
+++ b/ci/install_travis.sh
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ if [ -e ${REQ} ]; then
 fi
 
 time conda install -n pandas pytest>=3.1.0
-time pip install pytest-xdist moto
+time pip install -q pytest-xdist moto
 
 if [ "$LINT" ]; then
    conda install flake8=3.4.1
@@ -181,10 +181,10 @@ elif [ "$CONDA_BUILD_TEST" ]; then
 
     # build & install testing
     echo "[building conda recipe]"
-    time conda build ./conda.recipe --numpy 1.13 --python 3.5 -q --no-test
+    time conda build ./conda.recipe --python 3.5 -q --no-test || exit 1
 
     echo "[installing]"
-    conda install pandas --use-local
+    conda install pandas --use-local || exit 1
 
 else
 
diff --git a/ci/requirements-3.5_CONDA_BUILD_TEST.build b/ci/requirements-3.5_CONDA_BUILD_TEST.build
index 6648e3778777c..f7befe3b31865 100644
--- a/ci/requirements-3.5_CONDA_BUILD_TEST.build
+++ b/ci/requirements-3.5_CONDA_BUILD_TEST.build
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@ python=3.5*
 python-dateutil
 pytz
 nomkl
-numpy=1.13*
+numpy
 cython
diff --git a/ci/requirements-3.5_CONDA_BUILD_TEST.run b/ci/requirements-3.5_CONDA_BUILD_TEST.run
index 19d9a91e86585..669cf437f2164 100644
--- a/ci/requirements-3.5_CONDA_BUILD_TEST.run
+++ b/ci/requirements-3.5_CONDA_BUILD_TEST.run
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 pytz
-numpy=1.13*
+numpy
 openpyxl
 xlsxwriter
 xlrd
diff --git a/ci/requirements-3.5_CONDA_BUILD_TEST.sh b/ci/requirements-3.5_CONDA_BUILD_TEST.sh
index 09d6775cfc894..093fdbcf21d78 100644
--- a/ci/requirements-3.5_CONDA_BUILD_TEST.sh
+++ b/ci/requirements-3.5_CONDA_BUILD_TEST.sh
@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@ echo "install 35 CONDA_BUILD_TEST"
 conda remove -n pandas python-dateutil --force
 pip install python-dateutil
 
-conda install -n pandas -c conda-forge feather-format pyarrow=0.5.0
+conda install -n pandas -c conda-forge feather-format pyarrow=0.7.1
diff --git a/ci/requirements-3.6.build b/ci/requirements-3.6.build
index 94e1152450d87..1c4b46aea3865 100644
--- a/ci/requirements-3.6.build
+++ b/ci/requirements-3.6.build
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@ python=3.6*
 python-dateutil
 pytz
 nomkl
-numpy=1.13.*
+numpy
 cython
diff --git a/conda.recipe/meta.yaml b/conda.recipe/meta.yaml
index 87a79f7e5a987..86bed996c8aab 100644
--- a/conda.recipe/meta.yaml
+++ b/conda.recipe/meta.yaml
@@ -14,14 +14,14 @@ requirements:
   build:
     - python
     - cython
-    - {{ pin_compatible('numpy', upper_bound='1.14') }}
+    - numpy 1.11.*
     - setuptools >=3.3
     - python-dateutil >=2.5.0
     - pytz
 
   run:
     - python
-    - {{ pin_compatible('numpy', upper_bound='1.14') }}
+    - numpy >=1.11.*
     - python-dateutil >=2.5.0
     - pytz