diff --git a/ci/recipe/meta.yaml b/ci/recipe/meta.yaml
index 0ec0a62..50e77e6 100644
--- a/ci/recipe/meta.yaml
+++ b/ci/recipe/meta.yaml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ requirements:
     - netcdf4
     - xarray >=0.10.0
     - dask
-    - nco >=4.8.1
+    - nco >=5.4.2
     - esmf
     - pyproj
 
diff --git a/dev-spec.txt b/dev-spec.txt
index ae926d3..3a77244 100644
--- a/dev-spec.txt
+++ b/dev-spec.txt
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 python >=3.10
 dask
 esmf
-nco >=4.8.1
+nco >=5.4.2
 netcdf4
 numpy
 scipy
diff --git a/pyremap/remapper/ncremap.py b/pyremap/remapper/ncremap.py
index 3839ee1..4e5b745 100644
--- a/pyremap/remapper/ncremap.py
+++ b/pyremap/remapper/ncremap.py
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def _build_args(
     if isinstance(src_descriptor, mpas_descriptors):
         args.extend(['-P', 'mpas'])
         if not replace_mpas_fill:
-            args.append('-C')
+            args.append('--mpa_flg')
     if isinstance(src_descriptor, MpasEdgeMeshDescriptor):
         regrid_args.extend(['--rgr col_nm=nEdges'])
     if (