diff --git a/doc-requirements.txt b/doc-requirements.txt
index 68d887e4998a..603767370af3 100644
--- a/doc-requirements.txt
+++ b/doc-requirements.txt
@@ -11,5 +11,5 @@ colorspacious
 ipython
 ipywidgets
 numpydoc>=0.8
-pillow>=3.4,<5.4
+pillow>=3.4,!=5.4.0
 sphinx-gallery>=0.2