diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build_latest.yml
similarity index 87%
rename from .github/workflows/build.yml
rename to .github/workflows/build_latest.yml
index 11e218157..3e9e0e448 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_latest.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-name: Build and Test Linux
+name: Build and Test Linux with latest netcdf-c
 on: [push, pull_request]
 jobs:
   build-linux:
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ jobs:
       #NO_NET: 1
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: ["3.9"]
+        python-version: ["3.10"]
     steps:
 
     - uses: actions/checkout@v2
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ jobs:
         make install
         popd
         echo "Download and build netCDF version ${NETCDF_VERSION}"
-        wget https://downloads.unidata.ucar.edu/netcdf-c/4.9.0/netcdf-c-${NETCDF_VERSION}.tar.gz
+        wget https://downloads.unidata.ucar.edu/netcdf-c/${NETCDF_VERSION}/netcdf-c-${NETCDF_VERSION}.tar.gz
         tar -xzf netcdf-c-${NETCDF_VERSION}.tar.gz
         pushd netcdf-c-${NETCDF_VERSION}
         export CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/include/hdf5/mpich -I${NETCDF_DIR}/include"
@@ -94,11 +94,11 @@ jobs:
           echo "pnetcdf mpi test passed!"
         fi
 
-    - name: Tarball
-      run: |
-        export PATH=${NETCDF_DIR}/bin:${PATH} 
-        python setup.py --version  
-        check-manifest --version
-        check-manifest --verbose 
-        pip wheel . -w dist --no-deps 
-        twine check dist/* 
+#   - name: Tarball
+#     run: |
+#       export PATH=${NETCDF_DIR}/bin:${PATH} 
+#       python setup.py --version  
+#       check-manifest --version
+#       check-manifest --verbose 
+#       pip wheel . -w dist --no-deps 
+#       twine check dist/* 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_master.yml b/.github/workflows/build_master.yml
index 00b3a52d4..1749d9585 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_master.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_master.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ jobs:
       #NO_NET: 1
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: ["3.9"]
+        python-version: ["3.10"]
     steps:
 
     - uses: actions/checkout@v2
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_old.yml b/.github/workflows/build_old.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3bc79d718
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_old.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+name: Build and Test Linux with older netcdf-c
+on: [push, pull_request]
+jobs:
+  build-linux:
+    name: Python (${{ matrix.python-version }})
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      PNETCDF_VERSION: 1.12.1
+      NETCDF_VERSION: 4.8.1
+      NETCDF_DIR: ${{ github.workspace }}/..
+      NETCDF_EXTRA_CONFIG: --enable-pnetcdf
+      CC: mpicc.mpich
+      #NO_NET: 1
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        python-version: ["3.10"]
+    steps:
+
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+
+    - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v2
+      with:
+        python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+
+    - name: Install Ubuntu Dependencies
+      run: |
+        sudo apt-get update
+        sudo apt-get install mpich libmpich-dev libhdf5-mpich-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev bzip2 libsnappy-dev libblosc-dev libzstd-dev
+        echo "Download and build PnetCDF version ${PNETCDF_VERSION}"
+        wget https://parallel-netcdf.github.io/Release/pnetcdf-${PNETCDF_VERSION}.tar.gz
+        tar -xzf pnetcdf-${PNETCDF_VERSION}.tar.gz
+        pushd pnetcdf-${PNETCDF_VERSION}
+        ./configure --prefix $NETCDF_DIR --enable-shared --disable-fortran --disable-cxx
+        make -j 2
+        make install
+        popd
+        echo "Download and build netCDF version ${NETCDF_VERSION}"
+        wget https://downloads.unidata.ucar.edu/netcdf-c/${NETCDF_VERSION}/netcdf-c-${NETCDF_VERSION}.tar.gz
+        tar -xzf netcdf-c-${NETCDF_VERSION}.tar.gz
+        pushd netcdf-c-${NETCDF_VERSION}
+        export CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/include/hdf5/mpich -I${NETCDF_DIR}/include"
+        export LDFLAGS="-L${NETCDF_DIR}/lib"
+        export LIBS="-lhdf5_mpich_hl -lhdf5_mpich -lm -lz"
+        ./configure --prefix $NETCDF_DIR --enable-netcdf-4 --enable-shared --enable-dap --enable-parallel4 $NETCDF_EXTRA_CONFIG
+        make -j 2
+        make install
+        popd
+
+#   - name: The job has failed
+#     if: ${{ failure() }}
+#     run: |
+#       cd netcdf-c-${NETCDF_VERSION}
+#       cat config.log 
+
+    - name: Install python dependencies via pip
+      run: |
+        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+        pip install numpy cython cftime pytest twine wheel check-manifest mpi4py
+
+    - name: Install netcdf4-python
+      run: |
+        export PATH=${NETCDF_DIR}/bin:${PATH} 
+        export NETCDF_PLUGIN_DIR=${{ github.workspace }}/netcdf-c-${NETCDF_VERSION}/plugins/plugindir
+        python setup.py install
+    - name: Test
+      run: |
+        export PATH=${NETCDF_DIR}/bin:${PATH} 
+        python checkversion.py
+        # serial
+        cd test
+        python run_all.py
+        # parallel (hdf5 for netcdf4, pnetcdf for netcdf3)
+        cd ../examples
+        mpirun.mpich -np 4 python mpi_example.py
+        if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
+          echo "hdf5 mpi test failed!"
+          exit 1
+        else
+          echo "hdf5 mpi test passed!"
+        fi
+        mpirun.mpich -np 4 python mpi_example_compressed.py
+        if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
+          echo "hdf5 compressed mpi test failed!"
+          exit 1
+        else
+          echo "hdf5 compressed mpi test passed!"
+        fi
+        mpirun.mpich -np 4 python mpi_example.py NETCDF3_64BIT_DATA
+        if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
+          echo "pnetcdf mpi test failed!"
+          exit 1
+        else
+          echo "pnetcdf mpi test passed!"
+        fi
+
+#   - name: Tarball
+#     run: |
+#       export PATH=${NETCDF_DIR}/bin:${PATH} 
+#       python setup.py --version  
+#       check-manifest --version
+#       check-manifest --verbose 
+#       pip wheel . -w dist --no-deps 
+#       twine check dist/* 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/miniconda.yml b/.github/workflows/miniconda.yml
index 601fbda04..042bb1625 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/miniconda.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/miniconda.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ jobs:
     #  NO_NET: 1
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: ["3.6", "3.7", "3.8", "3.9", "3.10" ]
+        python-version: [ "3.7", "3.8", "3.9", "3.10", "3.11" ]
         os: [windows-latest, ubuntu-latest, macos-latest]
         platform: [x64, x32]
         exclude:
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ jobs:
         micromamba create --name TEST python=${{ matrix.python-version }} numpy cython pip pytest hdf5 libnetcdf cftime zlib --channel conda-forge
         micromamba activate TEST
         export PATH="${CONDA_PREFIX}/bin:${CONDA_PREFIX}/Library/bin:$PATH" # so setup.py finds nc-config
-        pip install -e . --no-deps --force-reinstall
+        pip install -v -e . --no-deps --force-reinstall
 
     - name: Debug conda
       shell: bash -l {0}
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: [ "3.9" ]
+        python-version: [ "3.10" ]
         os: [ubuntu-latest]
         platform: [x64]
     steps:
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@ jobs:
         micromamba create --name TEST python=${{ matrix.python-version }} numpy cython pip pytest mpi4py hdf5=*=mpi* libnetcdf=*=mpi* cftime zlib --channel conda-forge
         micromamba activate TEST
         export PATH="${CONDA_PREFIX}/bin:${CONDA_PREFIX}/Library/bin:$PATH" # so setup.py finds nc-config
-        pip install -e . --no-deps --force-reinstall
+        nc-config --all
+        pip install -v -e . --no-build-isolation --no-deps --force-reinstall
 
     - name: Debug conda
       shell: bash -l {0}
@@ -88,8 +89,8 @@ jobs:
         export PATH="${CONDA_PREFIX}/bin:${CONDA_PREFIX}/Library/bin:$PATH" 
         which mpirun
         mpirun --version
-        #mpirun -np 4 --oversubscribe python mpi_example.py # for openmpi
-        mpirun -np 4 python mpi_example.py
+        mpirun -np 4 --oversubscribe python mpi_example.py # for openmpi
+        #mpirun -np 4 python mpi_example.py
         if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
           echo "hdf5 mpi test failed!"
           exit 1
diff --git a/Changelog b/Changelog
index 41baa59c7..dbbbed650 100644
--- a/Changelog
+++ b/Changelog
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
- version 1.6.2 (Unrelease)
-==========================
+ version 1.6.2 (not yet released)
+==============================
  * Added ``netCDF4.__has_set_alignment__`` property to help identify if the
    underlying netcdf4 supports setting the HDF5 alignment.
  * Slicing multi-dimensional variables with an all False boolean index array
    now returns an empty numpy array (instead of raising an exception - issue #1197).
    Behavior now consistent with numpy slicing.
+ * fix problem with compiling using netcdf-c < 4.9.0 (issue #1209)
 
  version 1.6.1 (tag v1.6.1rel)
 ==============================
diff --git a/include/netCDF4.pxi b/include/netCDF4.pxi
index 86e309839..9233c8165 100644
--- a/include/netCDF4.pxi
+++ b/include/netCDF4.pxi
@@ -367,7 +367,6 @@ cdef extern from "netcdf.h":
 
     int nc_inq_enum_ident(int ncid, nc_type xtype, long long value, char *identifier) nogil
 
-
 IF HAS_QUANTIZATION_SUPPORT:
     cdef extern from "netcdf.h":
         cdef enum:
@@ -377,6 +376,8 @@ IF HAS_QUANTIZATION_SUPPORT:
             NC_QUANTIZE_BITROUND
         int nc_def_var_quantize(int ncid, int varid, int quantize_mode, int nsd) nogil
         int nc_inq_var_quantize(int ncid, int varid, int *quantize_modep, int *nsdp) nogil
+
+IF HAS_NCFILTER:
     cdef extern from "netcdf_filter.h":
         int nc_inq_filter_avail(int ncid, unsigned filterid) nogil
 
@@ -388,8 +389,6 @@ IF HAS_SZIP_SUPPORT:
         int nc_inq_var_quantize(int ncid, int varid, int *quantize_modep, int *nsdp) nogil
         int nc_def_var_szip(int ncid, int varid, int options_mask, int pixels_per_bloc) nogil
         int nc_inq_var_szip(int ncid, int varid, int *options_maskp, int *pixels_per_blockp) nogil
-    cdef extern from "netcdf_filter.h":
-        int nc_inq_filter_avail(int ncid, unsigned filterid) nogil
 
 IF HAS_ZSTANDARD_SUPPORT:
     cdef extern from "netcdf_filter.h":
@@ -397,7 +396,6 @@ IF HAS_ZSTANDARD_SUPPORT:
             H5Z_FILTER_ZSTD
         int nc_def_var_zstandard(int ncid, int varid, int level) nogil
         int nc_inq_var_zstandard(int ncid, int varid, int* hasfilterp, int *levelp) nogil
-        int nc_inq_filter_avail(int ncid, unsigned id) nogil
 
 IF HAS_BZIP2_SUPPORT:
     cdef extern from "netcdf_filter.h":
@@ -405,7 +403,6 @@ IF HAS_BZIP2_SUPPORT:
             H5Z_FILTER_BZIP2
         int nc_def_var_bzip2(int ncid, int varid, int level) nogil
         int nc_inq_var_bzip2(int ncid, int varid, int* hasfilterp, int *levelp) nogil
-        int nc_inq_filter_avail(int ncid, unsigned filterid) nogil
 
 IF HAS_BLOSC_SUPPORT:
     cdef extern from "netcdf_filter.h":
@@ -413,7 +410,6 @@ IF HAS_BLOSC_SUPPORT:
             H5Z_FILTER_BLOSC
         int nc_def_var_blosc(int ncid, int varid, unsigned subcompressor, unsigned level, unsigned blocksize, unsigned addshuffle) nogil
         int nc_inq_var_blosc(int ncid, int varid, int* hasfilterp, unsigned* subcompressorp, unsigned* levelp, unsigned* blocksizep, unsigned* addshufflep) nogil
-        int nc_inq_filter_avail(int ncid, unsigned filterid) nogil
 
 IF HAS_NC_OPEN_MEM:
     cdef extern from "netcdf_mem.h":
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 87ba082e9..7a88e23c9 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ def check_api(inc_dirs,netcdf_lib_version):
     has_zstandard = False
     has_bzip2 = False
     has_blosc = False
+    has_ncfilter = False
     has_set_alignment = False
 
     for d in inc_dirs:
@@ -116,6 +117,8 @@ def check_api(inc_dirs,netcdf_lib_version):
                     has_bzip2 = True
                 if line.startswith('EXTERNL int nc_def_var_blosc'):
                     has_blosc = True
+                if line.startswith('EXTERNL int nc_inq_filter_avail'):
+                    has_ncfilter = True
 
         ncmetapath = os.path.join(d,'netcdf_meta.h')
         if os.path.exists(ncmetapath):
@@ -143,7 +146,7 @@ def check_api(inc_dirs,netcdf_lib_version):
     return has_rename_grp, has_nc_inq_path, has_nc_inq_format_extended, \
            has_cdf5_format, has_nc_open_mem, has_nc_create_mem, \
            has_parallel4_support, has_pnetcdf_support, has_szip_support, has_quantize, \
-           has_zstandard, has_bzip2, has_blosc, has_set_alignment
+           has_zstandard, has_bzip2, has_blosc, has_set_alignment, has_ncfilter
 
 
 def getnetcdfvers(libdirs):
@@ -557,7 +560,7 @@ def _populate_hdf5_info(dirstosearch, inc_dirs, libs, lib_dirs):
     has_rename_grp, has_nc_inq_path, has_nc_inq_format_extended, \
     has_cdf5_format, has_nc_open_mem, has_nc_create_mem, \
     has_parallel4_support, has_pnetcdf_support, has_szip_support, has_quantize, \
-    has_zstandard, has_bzip2, has_blosc, has_set_alignment = \
+    has_zstandard, has_bzip2, has_blosc, has_set_alignment, has_ncfilter = \
     check_api(inc_dirs,netcdf_lib_version)
     # for netcdf 4.4.x CDF5 format is always enabled.
     if netcdf_lib_version is not None and\
@@ -565,11 +568,12 @@ def _populate_hdf5_info(dirstosearch, inc_dirs, libs, lib_dirs):
         has_cdf5_format = True
 
     # disable parallel support if mpi4py not available.
-    try:
-        import mpi4py
-    except ImportError:
-        has_parallel4_support = False
-        has_pnetcdf_support = False
+    #try:
+    #    import mpi4py
+    #except ImportError:
+    #    f.write('disabling mpi parallel support because mpi4py not found\n')
+    #    has_parallel4_support = False
+    #    has_pnetcdf_support = False
 
     f = open(osp.join('include', 'constants.pyx'), 'w')
     if has_rename_grp:
@@ -671,9 +675,17 @@ def _populate_hdf5_info(dirstosearch, inc_dirs, libs, lib_dirs):
         sys.stdout.write('netcdf lib does not have nc_set_alignment function\n')
         f.write('DEF HAS_SET_ALIGNMENT = 0\n')
 
+    if has_ncfilter:
+        sys.stdout.write('netcdf lib has nc_inq_filter_avail function\n')
+        f.write('DEF HAS_NCFILTER = 1\n')
+    else:
+        sys.stdout.write('netcdf lib does not have nc_inq_filter_avail function\n')
+        f.write('DEF HAS_NCFILTER = 0\n')
+
     f.close()
 
     if has_parallel4_support or has_pnetcdf_support:
+        import mpi4py
         inc_dirs.append(mpi4py.get_include())
         # mpi_incdir should not be needed if using nc-config
         # (should be included in nc-config --cflags)
diff --git a/src/netCDF4/_netCDF4.pyx b/src/netCDF4/_netCDF4.pyx
index 29852a65d..c36f308b1 100644
--- a/src/netCDF4/_netCDF4.pyx
+++ b/src/netCDF4/_netCDF4.pyx
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 """
-Version 1.6.1
+Version 1.6.2
 -------------
 
 # Introduction
@@ -1230,7 +1230,7 @@ if sys.version_info[0:2] < (3, 7):
     # Python 3.7+ guarantees order; older versions need OrderedDict
     from collections import OrderedDict
 
-__version__ = "1.6.1"
+__version__ = "1.6.2"
 
 # Initialize numpy
 import posixpath
@@ -3543,15 +3543,21 @@ returns True if bzip2 compression filter is available"""
 **`has_szip_filter(self)`**
 returns True if szip compression filter is available"""
         cdef int ierr
-        IF HAS_SZIP_SUPPORT:
-            with nogil:
-                ierr = nc_inq_filter_avail(self._grpid, H5Z_FILTER_SZIP)
-            if ierr:
+        IF HAS_NCFILTER:
+            IF HAS_SZIP_SUPPORT:
+                with nogil:
+                    ierr = nc_inq_filter_avail(self._grpid, H5Z_FILTER_SZIP)
+                if ierr:
+                    return False
+                else:
+                    return True
+            ELSE:
                 return False
-            else:
-                return True
         ELSE:
-            return False
+             IF HAS_SZIP_SUPPORT:
+                 return True
+             ELSE:
+                 return False
 
 cdef class Group(Dataset):
     """