diff --git a/.github/workflows/create.yml b/.github/workflows/create.yml
index 11a5f68..6870cee 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/create.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/create.yml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ jobs:
           bare_versions=""
           for version in $(git tag); do
             [[ $version != v* ]] && echo "Skipping non-version tag: $version" && continue
-            [[ $version == v0.* ]] && echo "Skipping: $version" && continue
+            [[ $version =~ v0.(1|2|3).0 ]] && echo "Skipping $version (too old, no export code)" && continue
             echo "Adding: $version"
             bare_versions="$bare_versions ${version#v}"
           done
@@ -42,10 +42,10 @@ jobs:
             echo "Checking: $version"
             pkl_file="data/exported_from_tenpy_$version.pkl"
             hdf5_file="data/exported_from_tenpy_$version.hdf5"
-            if [ ! -f $pkl_file ]; then
+            if [ ! -f $pkl_file ] && [ -f tenpy_repo/tests/export_import_test/test_pickle.py ]; then
               echo "  $pkl_file missing"
               missing_versions="$missing_versions $version"
-            elif [ ! -f $hdf5_file ]; then
+            elif [ ! -f $hdf5_file ] && [ -f tenpy_repo/tests/export_import_test/test_hdf5.py ]; then
               echo "  $hdf5_file missing"
               missing_versions="$missing_versions $version"
             fi
@@ -60,7 +60,11 @@ jobs:
     needs: [detect]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     if: ${{ needs.detect.outputs.matrix != '[""]' }}
+    defaults:
+      run:
+        shell: bash -el {0}
     strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         version: ${{ fromJson(needs.detect.outputs.matrix) }}
     steps:
@@ -75,20 +79,62 @@ jobs:
           repository: tenpy/tenpy
           path: tenpy_repo
 
-      - name: Set up Python 3.14
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v6
+      - name: Remove unused pylab imports
+        if: matrix.version == '0.4.0'
+        # v0.4.0 imports pylab but does not use it.
+        # rather than figuring out how to install it, we just remove the unused import statement
+        # also remove bugged lines from the __main__ block of test_pickle.py
+        run: |
+          sed -i '/import pylab as pl/d' tenpy_repo/tenpy/algorithms/tdvp.py
+          sed -i '/import pylab as pl/d' tenpy_repo/tests/tdvp_numpy.py
+
+      - name: Fix export_import script
+        if: matrix.version == '0.4.0' || matrix.version == '0.4.1' || matrix.version == '0.5.0'
+        # there are two lines in the __main__ block that seem outdated and need to be removed
+        run: |
+          sed -i '/for f, fn in test_data_import():/d' tenpy_repo/tests/export_import_test/test_pickle.py
+          sed -i '/f(fn)/d' tenpy_repo/tests/export_import_test/test_pickle.py
+
+      - name: Set up conda
+        uses: conda-incubator/setup-miniconda@v3
         with:
-          python-version: 3.14
+          auto-update-conda: true
+          channels: conda-forge,defaults
+          channel-priority: true
 
       - name: Install dependencies
+        # note: always pin specific versions, to future proof the environment!
         run: |
-          pip install numpy scipy pytest h5py
+          if [[ ${{ matrix.version }} =~ 0.(4|5|6|7).[0-9] ]]; then
+            conda install -y python==3.9 numpy==1.19.2 scipy==1.5.2
+          elif [[ ${{ matrix.version }} =~ 0.(8|9|10|11|99).[0-9] ]] || [[ ${{ matrix.version }} =~ 1.0.[0-2] ]]; then
+            conda install -y python==3.10 numpy==1.26.4 scipy==1.10.1
+          else
+            conda install -y python==3.13 numpy==2.3.2 scipy==1.16.1
+          fi
+          conda install pytest h5py
 
       - name: Generate datasets
         run: |
           export PYTHONPATH="$PYTHONPATH:${{ github.workspace }}/tenpy_repo"
-          python tenpy_repo/tests/export_import_test/test_hdf5.py
-          python tenpy_repo/tests/export_import_test/test_pickle.py
+          if [ -f tenpy_repo/tests/export_import_test/test_hdf5.py ]; then
+            python tenpy_repo/tests/export_import_test/test_hdf5.py
+          fi
+          if [ -f tenpy_repo/tests/export_import_test/test_pickle.py ]; then
+            python tenpy_repo/tests/export_import_test/test_pickle.py
+          fi
+
+          if [ ! -d tenpy_repo/tests/export_import_test/data ]; then
+            echo "No data was generated." >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+      - name: Rename datasets
+        if: matrix.version == '0.4.0' || matrix.version == '0.4.1' || matrix.version == '0.5.0'
+        # the naming convention for the files changed in 0.6.0
+        run: |
+          mv tenpy_repo/tests/export_import_test/data/pickled_from_tenpy_v${{ matrix.version }}.pkl \
+            tenpy_repo/tests/export_import_test/data/exported_from_tenpy_v${{ matrix.version }}.pkl
 
       - name: Move datasets
         run: |