diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index e12a548..584e772 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ dependencies = [
     "pydantic>=2.2.0",
     "planobs",
     "winterapi >= 1.4.0",
+    "numpy<2.0.0",
+    "matplotlib==3.7.1",
 ]
 [project.optional-dependencies]
 dev = [
diff --git a/snipergw/paths.py b/snipergw/paths.py
index 1987823..0b19754 100644
--- a/snipergw/paths.py
+++ b/snipergw/paths.py
@@ -7,4 +7,7 @@
 
 base_output_dir = os.getenv("SNIPERGW_DIR", Path.home().joinpath("Data/snipergw/"))
 
+if isinstance(base_output_dir, str):
+    base_output_dir = Path(base_output_dir)
+
 gwemopt_dir = Path(__file__).parent.joinpath("gwemopt")