diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 3fc63ba..25d20c5 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
         "phpmd/phpmd": "^2.6",
         "phpunit/phpunit": "^8.0",
         "sebastian/phpcpd": "^4.1",
-        "squizlabs/php_codesniffer": "^3.4"
+        "squizlabs/php_codesniffer": " ^2.9"
     },
     "autoload": {
         "psr-4": {