diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-testing.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-testing.yml
index 23f9f4b186..b445fa15c3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-testing.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-testing.yml
@@ -96,15 +96,15 @@ jobs:
       shell: python
 
     - name: Install dependencies
+      env:
+        TORCH_URL: https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu/torch_stable.html
       run: |
-        pip install "pip==21.3.1"
-        pip install numpy Cython "torch>=1.7.1" -f https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu/torch_stable.html
-        pip install .[$EXTRAS,test] --upgrade --prefer-binary \
-          --find-links https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu/torch_stable.html
+        python -m pip install "pip==21.3.1"
+        pip install numpy Cython "torch>=1.7.1" -f $TORCH_URL
+        pip install .[$EXTRAS,test] --upgrade --prefer-binary -f $TORCH_URL
         # FixMe: this shall be one line command
         pip install --upgrade --prefer-binary \
-          -r requirements/testing_${{ matrix.topic }}.txt \
-          --find-links https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu/torch_stable.html
+          -r requirements/testing_${{ matrix.topic }}.txt -f $TORCH_URL
         pip list
 
     - name: Cache datasets
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 302545cd34..306bff45da 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ torch >=1.7.1
 torchmetrics >0.5.1, <0.11.0  # strict
 pytorch-lightning >=1.3.6, <1.9.0  # strict
 pyDeprecate
-pandas <=1.5.2
+pandas # <=1.5.2  # todo
 jsonargparse[signatures] >=3.17.0, <=4.9.0
 click >=7.1.2, <=8.1.3
 protobuf <=3.20.1