diff --git a/repo2docker/buildpacks/conda/freeze.py b/repo2docker/buildpacks/conda/freeze.py
index 1d5a6e33..421862b3 100755
--- a/repo2docker/buildpacks/conda/freeze.py
+++ b/repo2docker/buildpacks/conda/freeze.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ from ruamel.yaml import YAML
 # Docker image version can be different than conda version,
 # since miniconda3 docker images seem to lag conda releases.
 MINICONDA_DOCKER_VERSION = "4.5.12"
-CONDA_VERSION = "4.6.14"
+CONDA_VERSION = "4.7.5"
 
 HERE = pathlib.Path(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
 
diff --git a/repo2docker/buildpacks/conda/install-miniconda.bash b/repo2docker/buildpacks/conda/install-miniconda.bash
index 5ee2239d..7eabee43 100755
--- a/repo2docker/buildpacks/conda/install-miniconda.bash
+++ b/repo2docker/buildpacks/conda/install-miniconda.bash
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ set -ex
 
 cd $(dirname $0)
 MINICONDA_VERSION=4.6.14
-CONDA_VERSION=4.6.14
+CONDA_VERSION=4.7.5
 # Only MD5 checksums are available for miniconda
 # Can be obtained from https://repo.continuum.io/miniconda/
 MD5SUM="718259965f234088d785cad1fbd7de03"
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ if [[ "${CONDA_VERSION}" != "${MINICONDA_VERSION}" ]]; then
     conda install -yq conda==${CONDA_VERSION}
 fi
 
+# avoid future changes to default channel_priority behavior
+conda config --system --set channel_priority "flexible"
+
 echo "installing notebook env:"
 cat /tmp/environment.yml
 conda env create -p ${NB_PYTHON_PREFIX} -f /tmp/environment.yml
diff --git a/tests/conda/binder-dir/verify b/tests/conda/binder-dir/verify
index e83b7ff1..ad27e29d 100755
--- a/tests/conda/binder-dir/verify
+++ b/tests/conda/binder-dir/verify
@@ -5,6 +5,6 @@ from subprocess import check_output
 assert sys.version_info[:2] == (3, 5), sys.version
 
 out = check_output(["conda", "--version"]).decode("utf8").strip()
-assert out == "conda 4.6.14", out
+assert out == "conda 4.7.5", out
 
 import numpy