diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
index 58ffee1..88fee97 100644
--- a/.github/dependabot.yml
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -7,8 +7,3 @@ updates:
     directory: "/"
     schedule:
       interval: "daily"
-
-  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
-    directory: "/requirements"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "daily"
diff --git a/noxfile.py b/noxfile.py
index 25f3443..af0e08f 100644
--- a/noxfile.py
+++ b/noxfile.py
@@ -12,8 +12,7 @@
 @nox.session
 def test(session: nox.Session) -> None:
     """Run the tests."""
-    session.install("-r", "requirements/requires.txt", "-r", "requirements/testing.txt")
-    session.install(".", "--no-deps")
+    session.install(".[testing]")
 
     session.run(
         "coverage",
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index d518a2a..083e77b 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -36,6 +36,12 @@ dynamic = [
     "readme",
 ]
 
+[project.optional-dependencies]
+testing = [
+  "coverage",
+  "pytest",
+]
+
 [project.scripts]
 bmipy-render = "bmipy._cmd:main"
 
diff --git a/requirements/README.md b/requirements/README.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 98cf966..0000000
--- a/requirements/README.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-This directory contains several files that specify the versions of
-our dependencies used in our CI workflows. *bmi-python* does not require
-these exact version numbers to work properly, these are what we
-test against to ensure that things don't break as new versions
-of our dependencies are released.
-
-## Managed by dependabot
-
-All files with a `.txt` extension are managed by dependabot and **should
-not be manually edited** unless you need to add or remove a dependency.
diff --git a/requirements/testing.txt b/requirements/testing.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 2a0e3aa..0000000
--- a/requirements/testing.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-coverage==7.13.5
-pytest==9.0.2