diff --git a/ci/deps/actions-37-locale.yaml b/ci/deps/actions-37-locale.yaml
index b18ce37d05ca0..551308f1d5fac 100644
--- a/ci/deps/actions-37-locale.yaml
+++ b/ci/deps/actions-37-locale.yaml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ dependencies:
   - hypothesis>=3.58.0
 
   # required
-  - numpy
+  - numpy<1.20  # GH#39541 compat for pyarrow<3
   - python-dateutil
   - pytz
 
diff --git a/ci/deps/azure-38-locale.yaml b/ci/deps/azure-38-locale.yaml
index 15d503e8fd0a5..26297a3066fa5 100644
--- a/ci/deps/azure-38-locale.yaml
+++ b/ci/deps/azure-38-locale.yaml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ dependencies:
   - moto
   - nomkl
   - numexpr
-  - numpy
+  - numpy<1.20  # GH#39541 compat with pyarrow<3
   - openpyxl
   - pytables
   - python-dateutil