diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci_tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci_tests.yaml
index 5fbbde2ec5c..1dc6acb3dc2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci_tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci_tests.yaml
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ jobs:
           - os: windows-latest
             isDraft: true
         include:
-          # Python 3.11 + core packages (minimum supported versions) + optional packages (minimum supported versions if any)
+          # Python 3.11 + core packages (minimum supported versions) + optional packages
           - python-version: '3.11'
             numpy-version: '1.26'
             pandas-version: '=2.1'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci_tests_legacy.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci_tests_legacy.yaml
index 6701461da62..f5a7757cb6f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci_tests_legacy.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci_tests_legacy.yaml
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-# Test PyGMT with GMT legacy versions on Linux/macOS/Windows
+# Test PyGMT with GMT legacy versions and old Python dependencies on Linux/macOS/Windows
 #
-# This workflow runs regular PyGMT tests with GMT legacy versions. Due to the minor
-# baseline image changes between GMT versions, the workflow only runs the tests but
-# doesn't do image comparisons.
+# This workflow runs regular PyGMT tests with GMT legacy versions and old versions of
+# all optional and required Python dependencies. Due to minor baseline image changes
+# between GMT versions, the workflow runs the tests but doesn't do image comparisons.
 #
 # It is scheduled to run every Tuesday on the main branch.
 #
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ on:
   # push:
   #   branches: [ main ]
   # Uncomment the 'pull_request' line below to trigger the workflow in PR
-  # pull_request:
+  pull_request:
     # types: [ready_for_review]
     # paths:
     #  - 'pygmt/**'
@@ -61,22 +61,6 @@ jobs:
             python=3.11
             gmt=${{ matrix.gmt_version }}
             ghostscript<10
-            numpy=1.26
-            pandas
-            xarray
-            packaging
-            contextily=1.5
-            geopandas=1.0
-            ipython
-            pyarrow-core=16
-            rioxarray
-            sphinx-gallery
-            make
-            pip
-            python-build
-            pytest
-            pytest-doctestplus
-            pytest-mpl
 
       # Download cached remote files (artifacts) from GitHub
       - name: Download remote data from GitHub
@@ -93,10 +77,21 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
 
+      # Install uv package manager
+      - name: Install uv
+        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v6.0.0
+        with:
+          activate-environment: true
+          python-version: 3.11
+
       # Install the package that we want to test
       - name: Install the package
-        run: make install
+        run: |
+          uv run --with pip==23 --resolution lowest-direct --all-extras --dev make install
+          uv pip list
 
       # Run the tests but skip images
       - name: Run tests
-        run: make test_no_images PYTEST_EXTRA="-r P"
+        run: uv run --with pytest==8,pytest-mpl==0.17,pytest-doctestplus==1.2 --resolution lowest-direct --all-extras --dev make test_no_images PYTEST_EXTRA="-r P"
+        env:
+          GMT_LIBRARY_PATH: $CONDA_PREFIX/lib
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 82b07cd59f0..b5507f9a4fd 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "numpy>=1.26",
     "pandas>=2.1",
     "xarray>=2023.07",
-    "packaging",
+    "packaging>=22.0",
 ]
 dynamic = ["version"]
 
@@ -46,9 +46,9 @@ dynamic = ["version"]
 all = [
     "contextily>=1.5",
     "geopandas>=1.0",
-    "IPython",  # 'ipython' is not the correct module name.
+    "IPython>=8",  # 'ipython' is not the correct module name.
     "pyarrow>=16",
-    "rioxarray",
+    "rioxarray>=0.14",
 ]
 
 [project.entry-points."xarray.backends"]