diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index bd62f43..1bd1e67 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
     install_requires=[
         "gitpython",
         "towncrier==21.3.0",
-        "pyautoversion~=1.2.0",
+        "pyautoversion>=1.2,<2.1",
         # FIXME change when https://github.com/pdoc3/pdoc/issues/299 is fixed
         "pdoc3==0.9.1",
         "toml",