diff --git a/anaconda_project/env_spec.py b/anaconda_project/env_spec.py
index aaff7b8b..f78fdacb 100644
--- a/anaconda_project/env_spec.py
+++ b/anaconda_project/env_spec.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 from anaconda_project.internal.py2_compat import is_string
 from anaconda_project import conda_manager
 
-from anaconda_project.yaml_file import _load_string, _save_file, _YAMLError, ryaml
+from anaconda_project.yaml_file import _load_string, _save_file, _YAMLError
 
 
 class EnvSpec(object):
@@ -402,12 +402,11 @@ def to_json(self):
         channels = list(self._channels)
         platforms = list(self._platforms)
 
-        # this is a gross, roundabout hack to get ryaml dicts that
+        # this is a gross, roundabout hack to get ruamel.yaml dicts that
         # have ordering... OrderedDict doesn't work because the
         # yaml saver saves them as some "!!omap" nonsense. Other
         # than ordering, the formatting isn't even preserved here.
-        template_json = ryaml.load("something:\n    description: null\n" + "    packages: []\n" + "    channels: []\n",
-                                   Loader=ryaml.RoundTripLoader)
+        template_json = _load_string("something:\n    description: null\n" + "    packages: []\n" + "    channels: []\n")
 
         if self._description is not None:
             template_json['something']['description'] = self._description
@@ -474,7 +473,7 @@ def save_environment_yml(self, filename):
             packages.append(dict(pip=pip_packages))
         channels = list(self.channels)
 
-        yaml = ryaml.load("name: " "\ndependencies: []\nchannels: []\n", Loader=ryaml.RoundTripLoader)
+        yaml = _load_string("name: " "\ndependencies: []\nchannels: []\n")
 
         assert self.name is not None  # the global anonymous spec can't be saved
         yaml['name'] = self.name
diff --git a/anaconda_project/yaml_file.py b/anaconda_project/yaml_file.py
index 4736f34a..cb01046d 100644
--- a/anaconda_project/yaml_file.py
+++ b/anaconda_project/yaml_file.py
@@ -12,22 +12,15 @@
 # comments, etc., which is why we use it instead of the usual yaml
 # module. Remember the project file is intended to go into source
 # control.
-try:
-    # this is the conda-packaged version of ruamel.yaml which has the
-    # module renamed
-    import ruamel_yaml as ryaml
-    from ruamel_yaml.error import YAMLError
-    from ruamel_yaml.comments import CommentedMap
-    from ruamel_yaml.comments import CommentedSeq
-except ImportError:  # pragma: no cover
-    # this is the upstream version
-    import ruamel.yaml as ryaml  # pragma: no cover
-    from ruamel.yaml.error import YAMLError  # pragma: no cover
-    from ruamel.yaml.comments import CommentedMap  # pragma: no cover
-    from ruamel.yaml.comments import CommentedSeq  # pragma: no cover
+import ruamel.yaml
+import ruamel.yaml.constructor
+from ruamel.yaml.error import YAMLError  # pragma: no cover
+from ruamel.yaml.comments import CommentedMap  # pragma: no cover
+from ruamel.yaml.comments import CommentedSeq  # pragma: no cover
 
 import codecs
 import errno
+import io
 import os
 import sys
 import uuid
@@ -57,20 +50,26 @@ def _atomic_replace(path, contents, encoding='utf-8'):
             pass
 
 
+def _get_yaml():
+    return ruamel.yaml.YAML(typ="rt")
+
+
 def _load_string(contents):
     if contents.strip() == '':
-        # ryaml.load below returns None for an empty file, we want
+        # YAML.load below returns None for an empty file, we want
         # to return an empty dict instead.
         return {}
     else:
         # using RoundTripLoader incorporates safe_load
         # (we don't load code)
-        assert issubclass(ryaml.RoundTripLoader, ryaml.constructor.SafeConstructor)
-        return ryaml.load(contents, Loader=ryaml.RoundTripLoader)
+        assert issubclass(ruamel.yaml.RoundTripLoader, ruamel.yaml.constructor.SafeConstructor)
+        return _get_yaml().load(contents)
 
 
 def _dump_string(yaml):
-    return ryaml.dump(yaml, Dumper=ryaml.RoundTripDumper)
+    stream = io.StringIO()
+    _get_yaml().dump(yaml, stream=stream)
+    return stream.getvalue()
 
 
 def _save_file(yaml, filename, contents=None):
@@ -79,7 +78,7 @@ def _save_file(yaml, filename, contents=None):
 
     try:
         # This is to ensure we don't corrupt the file, even if ruamel.yaml is broken
-        ryaml.load(contents, Loader=ryaml.RoundTripLoader)
+        _get_yaml().load(contents)
     except YAMLError as e:  # pragma: no cover (should not happen)
         print("ruamel.yaml bug; it failed to parse a file that it generated.", file=sys.stderr)
         print("  the parse error was: " + str(e), file=sys.stderr)
diff --git a/conda.recipe/meta.yaml b/conda.recipe/meta.yaml
index ad837bc1..9c7751de 100644
--- a/conda.recipe/meta.yaml
+++ b/conda.recipe/meta.yaml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ requirements:
     - conda-pack
     - python
     - requests
-    - ruamel_yaml
+    - ruamel.yaml
     - tornado >=4.2
     - jinja2
     - tqdm
diff --git a/environment.yml b/environment.yml
index 05feb49d..c3447d2d 100644
--- a/environment.yml
+++ b/environment.yml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ channels:
 dependencies:
   - redis
   - notebook
-  - ruamel_yaml
+  - ruamel.yaml
   - anaconda-client
   - conda-pack
   - requests
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index a5c7a360..b71c935b 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
                      "anaconda-client",
                      "conda-pack",
                      "requests",
-                     "ruamel_yaml",
+                     "ruamel.yaml",
                      "tornado>=4.2",
                      "jinja2",
                      "tqdm",