diff --git a/changelog.d/12166.misc b/changelog.d/12166.misc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..24b4a7c7d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/12166.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Relax the version guard for "packaging" added in #12088.
diff --git a/synapse/python_dependencies.py b/synapse/python_dependencies.py
index 8f48a3393..b40a7bbb7 100644
--- a/synapse/python_dependencies.py
+++ b/synapse/python_dependencies.py
@@ -83,8 +83,8 @@ REQUIREMENTS = [
     # ijson 3.1.4 fixes a bug with "." in property names
     "ijson>=3.1.4",
     "matrix-common~=1.1.0",
-    # For runtime introspection of our dependencies
-    "packaging~=21.3",
+    # We need packaging.requirements.Requirement, added in 16.1.
+    "packaging>=16.1",
 ]
 
 CONDITIONAL_REQUIREMENTS = {