diff --git a/ohai.gemspec b/ohai.gemspec
index e7af4a7c9..864ef6918 100644
--- a/ohai.gemspec
+++ b/ohai.gemspec
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
 
   s.add_dependency "chef-config", ">= 14.12", "< 19"
   s.add_dependency "chef-utils", ">= 16.0", "< 19"
-  s.add_dependency "ffi", "~> 1.9"
+  s.add_dependency "ffi", "~> 1.9", "<= 1.17.0"
   s.add_dependency "ffi-yajl", "~> 2.2"
   s.add_dependency "ipaddress"
   s.add_dependency "mixlib-cli", ">= 1.7.0" # 1.7+ needed to support passing multiple options