diff --git a/ci/environment-dev.yaml b/ci/environment-dev.yaml
index 56023d2a71a796..57748fef1a2e52 100644
--- a/ci/environment-dev.yaml
+++ b/ci/environment-dev.yaml
@@ -9,6 +9,6 @@ dependencies:
   - pytest>=3.1
   - python-dateutil>=2.5.0
   - python=3
-  - pytz>=2016.1
+  - pytz
   - setuptools
   - sphinx
diff --git a/ci/requirements-2.7.build b/ci/requirements-2.7.build
index 55aa1de60fa330..d1cc61df0a77ca 100644
--- a/ci/requirements-2.7.build
+++ b/ci/requirements-2.7.build
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 python=2.7*
 python-dateutil=2.5.0
-pytz=2016.1
+pytz=2013b
 nomkl
 numpy
 cython=0.23
diff --git a/ci/requirements-2.7.run b/ci/requirements-2.7.run
index 8377474554578f..7c10b98fb6e146 100644
--- a/ci/requirements-2.7.run
+++ b/ci/requirements-2.7.run
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 python-dateutil=2.5.0
-pytz=2016.1
+pytz=2013b
 numpy
 xlwt=0.7.5
 numexpr
diff --git a/ci/requirements-2.7_COMPAT.build b/ci/requirements-2.7_COMPAT.build
index 279868d7da1a38..aa767c10011963 100644
--- a/ci/requirements-2.7_COMPAT.build
+++ b/ci/requirements-2.7_COMPAT.build
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@ python=2.7*
 numpy=1.9.2
 cython=0.23
 python-dateutil=2.5.0
-pytz=2016.1
+pytz=2013b
diff --git a/ci/requirements-2.7_COMPAT.run b/ci/requirements-2.7_COMPAT.run
index 8f56a3d27ad2ba..c3daed6e6e1da6 100644
--- a/ci/requirements-2.7_COMPAT.run
+++ b/ci/requirements-2.7_COMPAT.run
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 numpy=1.9.2
 python-dateutil=2.5.0
-pytz=2016.1
+pytz=2013b
 scipy=0.14.0
 xlwt=0.7.5
 xlrd=0.9.2
diff --git a/ci/requirements-2.7_LOCALE.build b/ci/requirements-2.7_LOCALE.build
index e83c493439b38c..96cb184ec2665e 100644
--- a/ci/requirements-2.7_LOCALE.build
+++ b/ci/requirements-2.7_LOCALE.build
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 python=2.7*
 python-dateutil
-pytz=2016.1
+pytz=2013b
 numpy=1.9.2
 cython=0.23
diff --git a/ci/requirements_dev.txt b/ci/requirements_dev.txt
index 553290b594d714..e9840388203b1c 100644
--- a/ci/requirements_dev.txt
+++ b/ci/requirements_dev.txt
@@ -5,6 +5,6 @@ NumPy
 moto
 pytest>=3.1
 python-dateutil>=2.5.0
-pytz>=2016.1
+pytz
 setuptools
 sphinx
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/conda.recipe/meta.yaml b/conda.recipe/meta.yaml
index 753a2c5b2aa98e..8152af84228b8c 100644
--- a/conda.recipe/meta.yaml
+++ b/conda.recipe/meta.yaml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ requirements:
     - python
     - numpy x.x
     - python-dateutil >=2.5.0
-    - pytz >=2016.1
+    - pytz
 
 test:
   imports:
diff --git a/doc/source/install.rst b/doc/source/install.rst
index 395354cae6d30e..6b460423f24db0 100644
--- a/doc/source/install.rst
+++ b/doc/source/install.rst
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ Dependencies
 * `setuptools <https://setuptools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>`__
 * `NumPy <http://www.numpy.org>`__: 1.9.0 or higher
 * `python-dateutil <//https://dateutil.readthedocs.io/en/stable/>`__: 2.5 or higher
-* `pytz <http://pytz.sourceforge.net/>`__: 2016.1 or higher.
+* `pytz <http://pytz.sourceforge.net/>`__
 
 .. _install.recommended_dependencies:
 
diff --git a/doc/source/io.rst b/doc/source/io.rst
index 2aeafd99f6e729..f96e33dbf9882f 100644
--- a/doc/source/io.rst
+++ b/doc/source/io.rst
@@ -2935,7 +2935,7 @@ Writing Excel Files to Memory
 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
 Pandas supports writing Excel files to buffer-like objects such as ``StringIO`` or
-``BytesIO`` using :class:`~pandas.io.excel.ExcelWriter`. Pandas also supports Openpyxl >= 2.2.
+``BytesIO`` using :class:`~pandas.io.excel.ExcelWriter`.
 
 .. code-block:: python
 
@@ -2991,9 +2991,7 @@ files if `Xlsxwriter`_ is not available.
 To specify which writer you want to use, you can pass an engine keyword
 argument to ``to_excel`` and to ``ExcelWriter``. The built-in engines are:
 
-- ``openpyxl``: This includes stable support for Openpyxl from 1.6.1. However,
-  it is advised to use version 2.2 and higher, especially when working with
-  styles.
+- ``openpyxl``: version 2.4 or higher is required
 - ``xlsxwriter``
 - ``xlwt``
 
diff --git a/doc/source/whatsnew/v0.22.0.txt b/doc/source/whatsnew/v0.22.0.txt
index 255f752194a29a..524abc5c975d5c 100644
--- a/doc/source/whatsnew/v0.22.0.txt
+++ b/doc/source/whatsnew/v0.22.0.txt
@@ -100,8 +100,6 @@ If installed, we now require:
    +=================+=================+==========+
    | python-dateutil | 2.5.0           |    X     |
    +-----------------+-----------------+----------+
-   | pytz            | 2016.1          |    X     |
-   +-----------------+-----------------+----------+
    | openpyxl        | 2.4.0           |          |
    +-----------------+-----------------+----------+
 
diff --git a/pandas/compat/__init__.py b/pandas/compat/__init__.py
index 6eb600109d5ab3..2deb29dabe7644 100644
--- a/pandas/compat/__init__.py
+++ b/pandas/compat/__init__.py
@@ -404,11 +404,6 @@ def raise_with_traceback(exc, traceback=Ellipsis):
 from dateutil import parser as _date_parser
 parse_date = _date_parser.parse
 
-# pytz minimum version
-import pytz
-
-if LooseVersion(pytz.__version__) < '2016.1':
-    raise ImportError('pytz 2016.1 is the minimum required version')
 
 # https://github.com/pandas-dev/pandas/pull/9123
 def is_platform_little_endian():