diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 9c82013..cd188a2 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ azure-storage-blob==2.1.0
 azureml-sdk==1.0.69
 azureml-widgets==1.0.69.1
 
-PyYAML==5.3.1            # for YAML parser
+PyYAML==5.4            # for YAML parser
 arrow==0.14.0            # avoid annoying warning msgs in 0.14.4 
 future==0.18.2           # temporarily needed by tensorboard
 grpcio==1.29.0           # tensorboard requirement
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index fa2d6a9..648de3c 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
     "azureml-widgets==1.0.69.1",
  
     # other xtlib dependencies
-    "PyYAML==5.3.1",            # for YAML parser
+    "PyYAML==5.4",            # for YAML parser
     "arrow==0.14.0",            # avoid annoying warning msgs in 0.14.4, 
     "future==0.18.2",           # temporarily needed by tensorboard
     "grpcio==1.29.0",           # tensorboard requirement