diff --git a/environment.yml b/environment.yml
index 45b29a1631..d155273c23 100644
--- a/environment.yml
+++ b/environment.yml
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ dependencies:
   - sphinx>=5
   - sphinx_rtd_theme
   # Python packages needed for testing
-  - flake8<5.0  # github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValCore/issues/1696
+  - flake8
   - mypy>=0.990
   - pytest>=3.9,!=6.0.0rc1,!=6.0.0
   - pytest-cov>=2.10.1
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ff342b1f56..514c41e744 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
     ],
     # Test dependencies
     'test': [
-        'flake8<5.0',  # github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValCore/issues/1696
+        'flake8',
         'pytest>=3.9,!=6.0.0rc1,!=6.0.0',
         'pytest-cov>=2.10.1',
         'pytest-env',