diff --git a/.appveyor.yml b/.appveyor.yml
index ade72a8fa6d7..af3d322e8eae 100644
--- a/.appveyor.yml
+++ b/.appveyor.yml
@@ -84,10 +84,9 @@ install:
   # if conda-forge gets a new pyqt, it might be nice to install it as well to have more backends
   # https://github.com/conda-forge/conda-forge.github.io/issues/157#issuecomment-223536381
   #
-  # n.b. pandas is pinned to <0.21 due to issue 9610
   - conda create -q -n test-environment python=%PYTHON_VERSION%
     msinttypes freetype=2.6 "libpng>=1.6.21,<1.7" zlib=1.2 tk=8.5
-    pip setuptools numpy mock "pandas<0.21.0" sphinx tornado
+    pip setuptools numpy mock pandas sphinx tornado
   - activate test-environment
   - echo %PYTHON_VERSION% %TARGET_ARCH%
   # pytest-cov>=2.3.1 due to https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest-cov/issues/124
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 23adcc584aeb..661c1ed9a4dc 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -57,11 +57,11 @@ env:
 matrix:
   include:
     - python: 2.7
-      env: MOCK=mock NUMPY=numpy==1.7.1 PANDAS='pandas<0.21.0' NOSE=nose
+      env: MOCK=mock NUMPY=numpy==1.7.1 PANDAS=pandas NOSE=nose
     - python: 3.4
       env: PYTHON_ARGS=-OO
     - python: 3.6
-      env: DELETE_FONT_CACHE=1 INSTALL_PEP8=pytest-pep8 RUN_PEP8=--pep8 PANDAS='pandas<0.21.0'
+      env: DELETE_FONT_CACHE=1 INSTALL_PEP8=pytest-pep8 RUN_PEP8=--pep8 PANDAS=pandas
     - python: "nightly"
       env: PRE=--pre
     - os: osx
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
index 272e159322bf..c694ffa4f3ce 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
@@ -5049,6 +5049,8 @@ def test_broken_barh_empty():
 
 def test_pandas_pcolormesh():
     pd = pytest.importorskip('pandas')
+    from pandas.tseries import converter
+    converter.register()
 
     time = pd.date_range('2000-01-01', periods=10)
     depth = np.arange(20)
@@ -5060,6 +5062,8 @@ def test_pandas_pcolormesh():
 
 def test_pandas_indexing_dates():
     pd = pytest.importorskip('pandas')
+    from pandas.tseries import converter
+    converter.register()
 
     dates = np.arange('2005-02', '2005-03', dtype='datetime64[D]')
     values = np.sin(np.array(range(len(dates))))
@@ -5073,6 +5077,8 @@ def test_pandas_indexing_dates():
 
 def test_pandas_errorbar_indexing():
     pd = pytest.importorskip('pandas')
+    from pandas.tseries import converter
+    converter.register()
 
     df = pd.DataFrame(np.random.uniform(size=(5, 4)),
                       columns=['x', 'y', 'xe', 'ye'],
@@ -5083,6 +5089,8 @@ def test_pandas_errorbar_indexing():
 
 def test_pandas_indexing_hist():
     pd = pytest.importorskip('pandas')
+    from pandas.tseries import converter
+    converter.register()
 
     ser_1 = pd.Series(data=[1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5])
     ser_2 = ser_1.iloc[1:]
@@ -5093,6 +5101,8 @@ def test_pandas_indexing_hist():
 def test_pandas_bar_align_center():
     # Tests fix for issue 8767
     pd = pytest.importorskip('pandas')
+    from pandas.tseries import converter
+    converter.register()
 
     df = pd.DataFrame({'a': range(2), 'b': range(2)})
 
@@ -5105,21 +5115,6 @@ def test_pandas_bar_align_center():
     fig.canvas.draw()
 
 
-def test_pandas_bar_align_center():
-    # Tests fix for issue 8767
-    pd = pytest.importorskip('pandas')
-
-    df = pd.DataFrame({'a': range(2), 'b': range(2)})
-
-    fig, ax = plt.subplots(1)
-
-    rect = ax.barh(df.loc[df['a'] == 1, 'b'],
-                   df.loc[df['a'] == 1, 'b'],
-                   align='center')
-
-    fig.canvas.draw()
-
-
 def test_axis_set_tick_params_labelsize_labelcolor():
     # Tests fix for issue 4346
     axis_1 = plt.subplot()
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_dates.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_dates.py
index 437482f5fa2e..41f71275b053 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_dates.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_dates.py
@@ -446,6 +446,8 @@ def test_date2num_dst_pandas():
     # Test for github issue #3896, but in date2num around DST transitions
     # with a timezone-aware pandas date_range object.
     pd = pytest.importorskip('pandas')
+    from pandas.tseries import converter
+    converter.register()
 
     def tz_convert(*args):
         return pd.DatetimeIndex.tz_convert(*args).astype(object)