diff --git a/.github/workflows/compatibility_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/compatibility_tests.yml
index f0e55f38..99a3698d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/compatibility_tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/compatibility_tests.yml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       matrix:
         python-version: [3.6, 3.7, 3.8]
-        anndata-version: [0.6.22.post1, 0.7.1]
+        anndata-version: [0.7.0, 0.7.1, 0.7.2, 0.7.3, 0.7.4]
         test-suite: [smoke-test, smoke-test-annotations]
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v2
diff --git a/server/data_anndata/anndata_adaptor.py b/server/data_anndata/anndata_adaptor.py
index 3145a833..1312a8f6 100644
--- a/server/data_anndata/anndata_adaptor.py
+++ b/server/data_anndata/anndata_adaptor.py
@@ -177,10 +177,10 @@ class AnndataAdaptor(DataAdaptor):
             )
 
     def _validate_and_initialize(self):
-        if anndata_version_is_pre_070() and self.server_config.adaptor__anndata_adaptor__backed:
+        if anndata_version_is_pre_070():
             warnings.warn(
-                "Use of --backed mode with anndata versions older than 0.7 will have serious "
-                "performance issues. Please update to at least anndata 0.7 or later."
+                "Use of anndata versions older than 0.7 will have serious issues. Please update to at "
+                "least anndata 0.7 or later."
             )
 
         # var and obs column names must be unique
diff --git a/server/requirements.txt b/server/requirements.txt
index 2e2de8b6..d288aee8 100644
--- a/server/requirements.txt
+++ b/server/requirements.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-anndata>=0.6.20
+anndata>=0.7.0
 boto3>=1.12.18
 click>=7.1.2
 fastobo>=0.6.1