diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 6650dc9761..74a7564144 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -18,11 +18,9 @@ packages = find:
 setup_requires =
     setuptools >= 38.3.0
     setuptools_scm
-install_requires =
-# Note: only minimal requirements are included here for development usage.
+# Note: no install_requires run-time requirements are included here.
 # Requirements are expected to be provided through another method such as conda.
 # See envs directory at top level of repository.
-    scitools-iris >= 3.0
 scripts = bin/improver
 
 [options.packages.find]