diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
index 1f3fcbc..bc0704f 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ COPY requirements.txt /conf/
 # required to build hdmedians
 # or any --no-binary
 ENV CC=/env/bin/x86_64-conda_cos6-linux-gnu-gcc \
+    CXX=/env/bin/x86_64-conda_cos6-linux-gnu-g++ \
     LDSHARED="/env/bin/x86_64-conda_cos6-linux-gnu-gcc -pthread -shared -B /env/compiler_compat -L/env/lib -Wl,-rpath=/env/lib -Wl,--no-as-needed"
 RUN micromamba run -p /env pip install --no-cache-dir \
     --no-build-isolation -r /conf/requirements.txt
diff --git a/docker/env.yaml b/docker/env.yaml
index 4b3c16c..b4ad40d 100644
--- a/docker/env.yaml
+++ b/docker/env.yaml
@@ -92,7 +92,6 @@ dependencies:
   - netCDF4
   - networkx
   - nodejs
-  - numexpr
   - numpy
   # required by spark
   - openjdk
diff --git a/docker/requirements.txt b/docker/requirements.txt
index 412ac5c..c0e8e3a 100644
--- a/docker/requirements.txt
+++ b/docker/requirements.txt
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ jupyterlab-code-snippets
 jupyterlab-topbar-text
 jupyterlab-logout
 jupyterlab-theme-toggler
+numexpr @ git+https://github.com/pydata/numexpr@a99412e
 
 # ODC/DEA: these are installed in builder stage
 otps