diff --git a/.github/workflows/io-test.yml b/.github/workflows/io-test.yml
index 189418e51..8f3d7e1d4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/io-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/io-test.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: true
       matrix:
-        python-version: ['3.9', '3.12']
+        python-version: ['3.9', '3.12', '3.13']
     defaults:
       # by default run in bash mode (required for conda usage)
       run:
diff --git a/environment_testing.yml b/environment_testing.yml
index 64488e835..8ff8bd984 100644
--- a/environment_testing.yml
+++ b/environment_testing.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,3 @@ channels:
 dependencies:
   - datalad
   - pip
-  # temporary have this here for IO testing while we decide how to deal with
-  # external packages not 2.0 ready
-  - numpy=1.26.4