diff --git a/environment.yml b/environment.yml
index 48b873d4c3a3d..cf17dc1281ec9 100644
--- a/environment.yml
+++ b/environment.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ dependencies:
   - pytest>=4.0.2
   - pytest-mock
   - sphinx
-  - numpydoc
+  - numpydoc>=0.9.0
   - pip
 
   # optional
diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
index 5600e43ea09c5..115a93495c95b 100644
--- a/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ pycodestyle
 pytest>=4.0.2
 pytest-mock
 sphinx
-numpydoc
+numpydoc>=0.9.0
 pip
 beautifulsoup4>=4.2.1
 blosc
diff --git a/scripts/validate_docstrings.py b/scripts/validate_docstrings.py
index 19df1b92448ef..ebb09e8f311ee 100755
--- a/scripts/validate_docstrings.py
+++ b/scripts/validate_docstrings.py
@@ -472,9 +472,12 @@ def parameter_desc(self, param):
 
     @property
     def see_also(self):
-        return collections.OrderedDict((name, ''.join(desc))
-                                       for name, desc, _
-                                       in self.doc['See Also'])
+        result = collections.OrderedDict()
+        for funcs, desc in self.doc['See Also']:
+            for func, _ in funcs:
+                result[func] = ''.join(desc)
+
+        return result
 
     @property
     def examples(self):
@@ -731,7 +734,7 @@ def get_validation_data(doc):
             if doc.method_returns_something:
                 errs.append(error('RT01'))
         else:
-            if len(doc.returns) == 1 and doc.returns[0][1]:
+            if len(doc.returns) == 1 and doc.returns[0].name:
                 errs.append(error('RT02'))
             for name_or_type, type_, desc in doc.returns:
                 if not desc: