diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index ef2c08d..cf17652 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -83,8 +83,11 @@ jobs:
           name: changelog
           path: CHANGELOG.md
       
+      - name: Lint Python files
+        run: ruff check .
+
       - name: Format Python files
-        run: python scripts/pull_request_prepare.py
+        run: ruff format .
 
       - name: Push release branch
         env:
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 02159c9..4921bb8 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ classifiers = [
 ]
 requires-python = ">=3.9"
 dependencies = [
-    "numpy<2.0.0",
+    "numpy",
     "pandas",
     "xmipy",
 ]
diff --git a/scripts/pull_request_prepare.py b/scripts/pull_request_prepare.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 909a25d..0000000
--- a/scripts/pull_request_prepare.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-import os
-
-try:
-    import isort
-
-    print(f"isort version: {isort.__version__}")
-except ModuleNotFoundError:
-    print("isort not installed\n\tInstall using pip install isort")
-
-try:
-    import black
-
-    print(f"black version: {black.__version__}")
-except ModuleNotFoundError:
-    print("black not installed\n\tInstall using pip install black")
-
-# uncomment if/when isort used
-# print("running isort...")
-# os.system("isort -v ../modflowapi")
-
-print("running black...")
-os.system("black -v ../modflowapi")