diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 143de8476..6b4f93832 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 cython
-cymem
+cymem >= 1.11
 preshed
 thinc
 murmurhash
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 47db1089a..4af9bf72f 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ def run_setup(exts):
                       "spacy.syntax": ["*.pxd"]},
         ext_modules=exts,
         license="Dual: Commercial or AGPL",
-        install_requires=['numpy', 'murmurhash', 'cymem', 'preshed', 'thinc',
+        install_requires=['numpy', 'murmurhash', 'cymem >= 1.11', 'preshed', 'thinc',
                           "unidecode", 'wget', 'plac', 'six'],
         setup_requires=["headers_workaround"],
     )