diff --git a/ci/deps/azure-windows-37.yaml b/ci/deps/azure-windows-37.yaml
index 4d745454afcab..f4c238ab8b173 100644
--- a/ci/deps/azure-windows-37.yaml
+++ b/ci/deps/azure-windows-37.yaml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ dependencies:
   # tools
   - cython>=0.29.16
   - pytest>=5.0.1
-  - pytest-xdist>=1.21
+  - pytest-xdist>=1.21,<2.0.0 # GH 35737
   - hypothesis>=3.58.0
   - pytest-azurepipelines
 
diff --git a/ci/deps/azure-windows-38.yaml b/ci/deps/azure-windows-38.yaml
index f428a6dadfaa2..1f383164b5328 100644
--- a/ci/deps/azure-windows-38.yaml
+++ b/ci/deps/azure-windows-38.yaml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ dependencies:
   # tools
   - cython>=0.29.16
   - pytest>=5.0.1
-  - pytest-xdist>=1.21
+  - pytest-xdist>=1.21,<2.0.0 # GH 35737
   - hypothesis>=3.58.0
   - pytest-azurepipelines
 
diff --git a/ci/deps/travis-37-cov.yaml b/ci/deps/travis-37-cov.yaml
index 3a0827a16f97a..edc11bdf4ab35 100644
--- a/ci/deps/travis-37-cov.yaml
+++ b/ci/deps/travis-37-cov.yaml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ dependencies:
   - pytest>=5.0.1
   - pytest-xdist>=1.21
   - hypothesis>=3.58.0
-  - pytest-cov  # this is only needed in the coverage build
+  - pytest-cov>=2.10.1  # this is only needed in the coverage build, ref: GH 35737
 
   # pandas dependencies
   - beautifulsoup4