diff --git a/DEPENDS.txt b/DEPENDS.txt
index 2c2aeb7d3c7..fc6d6679e9b 100644
--- a/DEPENDS.txt
+++ b/DEPENDS.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Build Requirements
 ------------------
 * `Python >= 2.6 <http://python.org>`__
-* `Numpy >= 1.6.1 <http://numpy.scipy.org/>`__
+* `Numpy >= 1.7.2 <http://numpy.scipy.org/>`__
 * `Cython >= 0.21 <http://www.cython.org/>`__
 * `Six >=1.4 <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/six>`__
 * `SciPy >=0.9 <http://scipy.org>`__
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Build Requirements
 Runtime requirements
 --------------------
 * `Python >= 2.6 <http://python.org>`__
-* `Numpy >= 1.6.1 <http://numpy.scipy.org/>`__
+* `Numpy >= 1.7.2 <http://numpy.scipy.org/>`__
 * `SciPy >= 0.9 <http://scipy.org>`__
 * `Matplotlib >= 1.1.0 <http://matplotlib.sf.net>`__
 * `NetworkX >= 1.8 <https://networkx.github.io>`__
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 19c541f5ded..98c1b49aaf3 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 matplotlib>=1.1.0
-numpy>=1.6.1
+numpy>=1.7.2
 scipy>=0.9.0
 six>=1.4
 networkx>=1.8
diff --git a/skimage/util/dtype.py b/skimage/util/dtype.py
index 077b14bec2f..a0ff637ea98 100644
--- a/skimage/util/dtype.py
+++ b/skimage/util/dtype.py
@@ -25,9 +25,8 @@
                     np.int8, np.int16, np.int32, np.int64,
                     np.float32, np.float64)
 
-if np.__version__ >= "1.6.0":
-    dtype_range[np.float16] = (-1, 1)
-    _supported_types += (np.float16, )
+dtype_range[np.float16] = (-1, 1)
+_supported_types += (np.float16, )
 
 
 def dtype_limits(image, clip_negative=True):