diff --git a/environment_unix.yml b/environment_unix.yml
index 22176c72e9..535f15046a 100644
--- a/environment_unix.yml
+++ b/environment_unix.yml
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ dependencies:
   - python =3.10 # Python 3.11 requires protobuf>=4
   - packaging
   - numpy
-  - pandas < 2
+  - pandas
   - pytest
   - boto3
   - werkzeug
diff --git a/python/arcticdb/version_store/_normalization.py b/python/arcticdb/version_store/_normalization.py
index dd0148260f..6de7c53b9f 100644
--- a/python/arcticdb/version_store/_normalization.py
+++ b/python/arcticdb/version_store/_normalization.py
@@ -726,10 +726,10 @@ def denormalize(self, item, norm_meta):
             if key in data:
                 category_info = list(norm_meta.common.categories[key].category)
                 codes = data[key]
-                # `pd.Categorical.from_codes` from `pandas~=0.25.x` (pandas' supported version for python 3.6)
-                # does not support `codes` of `dtype=object`: it has to have an integral dtype.
-                # See: https://github.com/pandas-dev/pandas/blob/0.25.x/pandas/core/arrays/categorical.py#L688-L704
                 if IS_PANDAS_ZERO:
+                    # `pd.Categorical.from_codes` from `pandas~=0.25.x` (pandas' supported version for python 3.6)
+                    # does not support `codes` of `dtype=object`: it has to have an integral dtype.
+                    # See: https://github.com/pandas-dev/pandas/blob/0.25.x/pandas/core/arrays/categorical.py#L688-L704
                     codes = np.asarray(codes, dtype=int)
                 df[key] = pd.Categorical.from_codes(codes=codes, categories=category_info)
         for key in norm_meta.common.int_categories:
diff --git a/python/tests/scripts/test_update_storage.py b/python/tests/scripts/test_update_storage.py
index f93b01345b..c9c2d3a6f2 100644
--- a/python/tests/scripts/test_update_storage.py
+++ b/python/tests/scripts/test_update_storage.py
@@ -2,13 +2,13 @@
 
 import pytest
 import pandas as pd
-from pandas.util.testing import assert_frame_equal
 
 from arcticdb import Arctic
 from arcticdb.scripts.update_storage import run
 from arcticdb.options import LibraryOptions
 from arcticc.pb2.s3_storage_pb2 import Config as S3Config
 from arcticc.pb2.azure_storage_pb2 import Config as AzureConfig
+from arcticdb.util.test import assert_frame_equal
 
 from arcticdb.adapters.s3_library_adapter import USE_AWS_CRED_PROVIDERS_TOKEN
 from arcticdb_ext.tools import AZURE_SUPPORT
diff --git a/python/tests/stress/arcticdb/version_store/test_stress_multicolumn.py b/python/tests/stress/arcticdb/version_store/test_stress_multicolumn.py
index f08c9c5d3d..086366f046 100644
--- a/python/tests/stress/arcticdb/version_store/test_stress_multicolumn.py
+++ b/python/tests/stress/arcticdb/version_store/test_stress_multicolumn.py
@@ -10,10 +10,8 @@
 import pandas as pd
 from pandas.tseries.offsets import MonthBegin
 import pytest
-import sys
 
 from arcticdb.util.test import assert_frame_equal
-from arcticdb.util._versions import IS_PANDAS_TWO
 from arcticdb_ext.tools import AZURE_SUPPORT
 
 
@@ -82,9 +80,7 @@ def test_stress_multicolumn(lib_type, request):
         output_df = lib.read(name).data
         print("reading from arctic native: {}".format(pd.Timestamp("now") - now))
 
-        if IS_PANDAS_TWO and test_data.empty:
-            # In Pandas 2.0, RangeIndex is used by default when an empty dataframe or series is created.
-            # The index has to be converted to a DatetimeIndex by ArcticDB to perform updates.
-            test_data.index = test_data.index.astype("datetime64[ns]")
-
-        assert_frame_equal(test_data, output_df)
+        # ArcticDB stores empty columns under a dedicated `EMPTYVAL` type, so the types are not going
+        # to match with pandas until the first append.
+        is_not_empty = not test_data.empty
+        assert_frame_equal(test_data, output_df, check_dtype=is_not_empty, check_index_type=is_not_empty)
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index c180c7ce4a..d010b51816 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ install_requires =
     #
     # See: https://conda-forge.org/feedstock-outputs/
     numpy
-    pandas <2
+    pandas
     attrs
     dataclasses ; python_version < '3.7'
     grpcio-tools