diff --git a/hledger.cabal b/hledger.cabal
index 4669b59ce..21df5b557 100644
--- a/hledger.cabal
+++ b/hledger.cabal
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ library
                   Ledger.Types
                   Ledger.Utils
   Build-Depends:
-                  base >= 3
+                  base >= 3 && < 5
                  ,containers
                  ,directory
                  ,filepath
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ executable hledger
                   Utils
                   Version
   build-depends:
-                  base >= 3
+                  base >= 3 && < 5
                  ,bytestring
                  ,containers
                  ,csv