diff --git a/UPDATING.md b/UPDATING.md
index 210935c..9f12e6a 100644
--- a/UPDATING.md
+++ b/UPDATING.md
@@ -44,3 +44,8 @@ useChannel({channelName: 'my_channel', id: 'foo'}, (msg) => {
   console.log(msg);
 });
 ```
+
+### ably is now a peer dependency
+
+Previously, ably was listed as an explicit dependency of the react-hooks packages, but we've now changed it to a peerDependency to better reflect the relationship between the two packages.
+In most cases you won't need to do anything, but if you are using an older version of NPM (below version 7) you may need to `npm install ably` in order to ensure that it is still installed in your project.
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 7fad776..cdb1307 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -47,12 +47,10 @@
         "typescript": ">=4.4.4",
         "vitest": "^0.18.0"
     },
-    "dependencies": {
-        "ably": "^1.2.27"
-    },
     "peerDependencies": {
         "react": ">=16.8.0",
-        "react-dom": ">=16.8.0"
+        "react-dom": ">=16.8.0",
+        "ably": "^1.2.27"
     },
     "publishConfig": {
         "access": "public"