diff --git a/.github/actions/build_pandas/action.yml b/.github/actions/build_pandas/action.yml
index 2d208cb38725a..786ad5895ac5a 100644
--- a/.github/actions/build_pandas/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/build_pandas/action.yml
@@ -4,9 +4,6 @@ inputs:
   editable:
     description: Whether to build pandas in editable mode (default true)
     default: true
-  werror:
-    description: Enable werror flag for build
-    default: true
 runs:
   using: composite
   steps:
@@ -28,10 +25,9 @@ runs:
     - name: Build Pandas
       run: |
         if [[ ${{ inputs.editable }} == "true" ]]; then
-          pip install -e . --no-build-isolation -v --no-deps \
-            ${{ inputs.werror == 'true' && '-Csetup-args="--werror"' || '' }}
+          EDITABLE="-e"
         else
-          pip install . --no-build-isolation -v --no-deps \
-            ${{ inputs.werror == 'true' && '-Csetup-args="--werror"' || '' }}
+          EDITABLE=""
         fi
+        pip install $EDITABLE . --no-build-isolation -v --no-deps -Csetup-args="--werror"
       shell: bash -el {0}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
index 46490fa324009..16cf06a98c9ae 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
@@ -160,9 +160,6 @@ jobs:
     - name: Build Pandas
       id: build
       uses: ./.github/actions/build_pandas
-      with:
-        # xref https://github.com/cython/cython/issues/6870
-        werror: ${{ matrix.name != 'Freethreading' }}
 
     - name: Test (not single_cpu)
       uses: ./.github/actions/run-tests
diff --git a/ci/deps/actions-311-minimum_versions.yaml b/ci/deps/actions-311-minimum_versions.yaml
index 3ff7601f0c6b3..f6a58e9e82fd6 100644
--- a/ci/deps/actions-311-minimum_versions.yaml
+++ b/ci/deps/actions-311-minimum_versions.yaml
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ dependencies:
 
   # build dependencies
   - versioneer
-  - cython<4.0.0a0
-  - meson=1.2.1
-  - meson-python=0.13.1
+  - cython>=3.1,<4.0.0a0
+  - meson>=1.2.1,<2
+  - meson-python>=0.17.1,<1
 
   # test dependencies
   - pytest>=7.3.2
diff --git a/ci/deps/actions-311.yaml b/ci/deps/actions-311.yaml
index f1a16bfc97656..82d2911f52bd5 100644
--- a/ci/deps/actions-311.yaml
+++ b/ci/deps/actions-311.yaml
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ dependencies:
 
   # build dependencies
   - versioneer
-  - cython<4.0.0a0
-  - meson=1.2.1
-  - meson-python=0.13.1
+  - cython>=3.1,<4.0.0a0
+  - meson>=1.2.1,<2
+  - meson-python>=0.17.1,<1
 
   # test dependencies
   - pytest>=7.3.2
diff --git a/ci/deps/actions-312.yaml b/ci/deps/actions-312.yaml
index 3222f372182ac..adf93733906bc 100644
--- a/ci/deps/actions-312.yaml
+++ b/ci/deps/actions-312.yaml
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ dependencies:
 
   # build dependencies
   - versioneer
-  - cython<4.0.0a0
-  - meson=1.2.1
-  - meson-python=0.13.1
+  - cython>=3.1,<4.0.0a0
+  - meson>=1.2.1,<2
+  - meson-python>=0.17.1,<1
 
   # test dependencies
   - pytest>=7.3.2
diff --git a/ci/deps/actions-313-downstream_compat.yaml b/ci/deps/actions-313-downstream_compat.yaml
index 663d98020b942..8fa5b03b65c95 100644
--- a/ci/deps/actions-313-downstream_compat.yaml
+++ b/ci/deps/actions-313-downstream_compat.yaml
@@ -7,9 +7,9 @@ dependencies:
 
   # build dependencies
   - versioneer
-  - cython<4.0.0a0
-  - meson=1.2.1
-  - meson-python=0.13.1
+  - cython>=3.1,<4.0.0a0
+  - meson>=1.2.1,<2
+  - meson-python>=0.17.1,<1
 
   # test dependencies
   - pytest>=7.3.2
diff --git a/ci/deps/actions-313-freethreading.yaml b/ci/deps/actions-313-freethreading.yaml
index e118080bc4c40..4639135ef284e 100644
--- a/ci/deps/actions-313-freethreading.yaml
+++ b/ci/deps/actions-313-freethreading.yaml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ dependencies:
   # build dependencies
   - setuptools
   - versioneer
-  - cython<4.0.0a0
+  - cython>=3.1,<4.0.0a0
   - meson=1.8.0
   - meson-python=0.18.0
 
diff --git a/ci/deps/actions-313-numpydev.yaml b/ci/deps/actions-313-numpydev.yaml
index a1474d70c9487..99034c827beee 100644
--- a/ci/deps/actions-313-numpydev.yaml
+++ b/ci/deps/actions-313-numpydev.yaml
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ dependencies:
 
   # build dependencies
   - versioneer
-  - meson=1.2.1
-  - meson-python=0.13.1
-  - cython<4.0.0a0
+  - meson>=1.2.1,<2
+  - meson-python>=0.17.1,<1
+  - cython>=3.1,<4.0.0a0
 
   # test dependencies
   - pytest>=7.3.2
diff --git a/ci/deps/actions-313-pyarrownightly.yaml b/ci/deps/actions-313-pyarrownightly.yaml
index e56813cffb901..b8728c13626f5 100644
--- a/ci/deps/actions-313-pyarrownightly.yaml
+++ b/ci/deps/actions-313-pyarrownightly.yaml
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ dependencies:
 
   # build dependencies
   - versioneer
-  - meson=1.2.1
-  - cython<4.0.0a0
-  - meson-python=0.13.1
+  - meson>=1.2.1,<2
+  - cython>=3.1,<4.0.0a0
+  - meson-python>=0.17.1,<1
 
   # test dependencies
   - pytest>=7.3.2
diff --git a/ci/deps/actions-313.yaml b/ci/deps/actions-313.yaml
index 050d71cbfe45e..fe9a573741b70 100644
--- a/ci/deps/actions-313.yaml
+++ b/ci/deps/actions-313.yaml
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ dependencies:
 
   # build dependencies
   - versioneer
-  - cython<4.0.0a0
-  - meson=1.2.1
-  - meson-python=0.13.1
+  - cython>=3.1,<4.0.0a0
+  - meson>=1.2.1,<2
+  - meson-python>=0.17.1,<1
 
   # test dependencies
   - pytest>=7.3.2
diff --git a/environment.yml b/environment.yml
index 29ce9e8a03446..9a4e662a51851 100644
--- a/environment.yml
+++ b/environment.yml
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ dependencies:
 
   # build dependencies
   - versioneer
-  - cython<4.0.0a0
-  - meson=1.2.1
-  - meson-python=0.13.1
+  - cython>=3.1,<4.0.0a0
+  - meson>=1.2.1,<2
+  - meson-python>=0.17.1,<1
 
   # test dependencies
   - pytest>=7.3.2
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 6a00e52481108..d607d9dcf7041 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -44,6 +44,14 @@ else
     meson.add_dist_script(py, versioneer, '-o', '_version_meson.py')
 endif
 
+cc = meson.get_compiler('c')
+add_project_arguments(
+# https://github.com/cython/cython/issues/6870
+    cc.get_supported_arguments(
+        ['-Wno-error=unused-parameter', '-Wno-error=unused-function'],
+    ),
+    language: 'c',
+)
 cy = meson.get_compiler('cython')
 if cy.version().version_compare('>=3.1.0')
     add_project_arguments('-Xfreethreading_compatible=true', language: 'cython')
diff --git a/pandas/io/formats/templates/__init__.py b/pandas/io/formats/templates/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e69de29bb2d1d
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 450fd06232d8c..16462daf84c13 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@
 # Minimum requirements for the build system to execute.
 # See https://github.com/scipy/scipy/pull/12940 for the AIX issue.
 requires = [
-    "meson-python>=0.13.1",
+    "meson-python>=0.17.1,<1",
     "meson>=1.2.1,<2",
     "wheel",
-    "Cython<4.0.0a0",  # Note: sync with setup.py, environment.yml and asv.conf.json
+    "Cython>=3.1,<4.0.0a0",  # Note: sync with setup.py, environment.yml and asv.conf.json
     # Force numpy higher than 2.0rc1, so that built wheels are compatible
     # with both numpy 1 and 2
     "numpy>=2.0.0rc1",
diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
index ce0ff91b2c8b3..e6802353ed291 100644
--- a/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
 
 pip
 versioneer[toml]
-cython<4.0.0a0
-meson[ninja]==1.2.1
-meson-python==0.13.1
+cython>=3.1,<4.0.0a0
+meson[ninja]>=1.2.1,<2
+meson-python>=0.17.1,<1
 pytest>=7.3.2
 pytest-cov
 pytest-xdist>=3.4.0