diff --git a/environment.yml b/environment.yml
index 9396210da3635..aa5e9505f9901 100644
--- a/environment.yml
+++ b/environment.yml
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ dependencies:
   - natsort  # DataFrame.sort_values
   - pip:
     - git+https://github.com/pydata/pydata-sphinx-theme.git@master
-    - numpydoc < 1.2  # 2021-02-09 1.2dev breaking CI
+    - git+https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc.git
     - pandas-dev-flaker==0.2.0
     - types-python-dateutil
     - types-PyMySQL
diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
index 3bf9084f55419..6fcba7c347608 100644
--- a/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ pyreadstat
 tabulate>=0.8.3
 natsort
 git+https://github.com/pydata/pydata-sphinx-theme.git@master
-numpydoc < 1.2
+git+https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc.git
 pandas-dev-flaker==0.2.0
 types-python-dateutil
 types-PyMySQL
diff --git a/scripts/tests/test_validate_docstrings.py b/scripts/tests/test_validate_docstrings.py
index 46cfae8e31208..224669937d2df 100644
--- a/scripts/tests/test_validate_docstrings.py
+++ b/scripts/tests/test_validate_docstrings.py
@@ -305,8 +305,12 @@ class TestPandasDocstringClass:
         "name", ["pandas.Series.str.isdecimal", "pandas.Series.str.islower"]
     )
     def test_encode_content_write_to_file(self, name):
+        from numpydoc.docscrape import get_doc_object
+        from numpydoc.validate import Validator
+
         # GH25466
-        docstr = validate_docstrings.PandasDocstring(name).validate_pep8()
+        func_obj = get_doc_object(Validator._load_obj(name))
+        docstr = validate_docstrings.PandasDocstring(func_obj).validate_pep8()
         # the list of pep8 errors should be empty
         assert not list(docstr)
 
diff --git a/scripts/validate_docstrings.py b/scripts/validate_docstrings.py
index 7562895d9db3e..1b596e8f88cdb 100755
--- a/scripts/validate_docstrings.py
+++ b/scripts/validate_docstrings.py
@@ -28,8 +28,9 @@
 import matplotlib
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 import numpy
+from numpydoc.docscrape import get_doc_object
 from numpydoc.validate import (
-    Docstring,
+    Validator,
     validate,
 )
 
@@ -38,7 +39,6 @@
 # With template backend, matplotlib plots nothing
 matplotlib.use("template")
 
-
 PRIVATE_CLASSES = ["NDFrame", "IndexOpsMixin"]
 ERROR_MSGS = {
     "GL04": "Private classes ({mentioned_private_classes}) should not be "
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ def get_api_items(api_doc_fd):
         previous_line = line
 
 
-class PandasDocstring(Docstring):
+class PandasDocstring(Validator):
     @property
     def mentioned_private_classes(self):
         return [klass for klass in PRIVATE_CLASSES if klass in self.raw_doc]
@@ -145,10 +145,17 @@ def examples_errors(self):
         runner = doctest.DocTestRunner(optionflags=flags)
         context = {"np": numpy, "pd": pandas}
         error_msgs = ""
-        for test in finder.find(self.raw_doc, self.name, globs=context):
-            f = io.StringIO()
-            runner.run(test, out=f.write)
-            error_msgs += f.getvalue()
+        name = None
+        try:
+            name = self.name
+        except AttributeError:
+            if not isinstance(self.obj, property):
+                name = type(self.obj).__name__
+        if name is not None:
+            for test in finder.find(self.raw_doc, name, globs=context):
+                f = io.StringIO()
+                runner.run(test, out=f.write)
+                error_msgs += f.getvalue()
         return error_msgs
 
     @property
@@ -204,7 +211,8 @@ def pandas_validate(func_name: str):
     dict
         Information about the docstring and the errors found.
     """
-    doc = PandasDocstring(func_name)
+    func_obj = get_doc_object(Validator._load_obj(func_name))
+    doc = PandasDocstring(func_obj)
     result = validate(func_name)
 
     mentioned_errs = doc.mentioned_private_classes