diff --git a/ci/deps/azure-windows-36.yaml b/ci/deps/azure-windows-36.yaml
index 548660cabaa67..21b4e86918f3b 100644
--- a/ci/deps/azure-windows-36.yaml
+++ b/ci/deps/azure-windows-36.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-37.yaml b/ci/deps/azure-windows-37.yaml
index 5bbd0e2795d7e..287d6877b9810 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/travis-36-cov.yaml b/ci/deps/travis-36-cov.yaml
index 177e0d3f4c0af..2457c04e67759 100644
--- a/ci/deps/travis-36-cov.yaml
+++ b/ci/deps/travis-36-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