diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 6d457f31..2f0eff4f 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -67,8 +67,11 @@ jobs:
             name: Get Python running
             command: |
               export PATH="$HOME/miniconda3/bin:$PATH"
+              conda config --add channels conda-forge
+              conda config --set channel_priority strict
               conda install -y -c conda-forge mamba
               mamba install -y -c conda-forge mne-base
+              # mamba install mne mne-base mne-installer-menus
 
               python -m pip install -U pip
               python -m pip install -U -r requirements.txt
diff --git a/examples/plot_compare_optimizers.py b/examples/plot_compare_optimizers.py
index 65efe073..91bc7044 100644
--- a/examples/plot_compare_optimizers.py
+++ b/examples/plot_compare_optimizers.py
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
 # -----------
 
 estimator = LogisticRegression(
-    penalty='l1', fit_intercept=False, max_iter=max_iter)
+    penalty='l1', fit_intercept=False, max_iter=max_iter, solver='liblinear')
 model = SparseLogreg(estimator=estimator)
 criterion = HeldOutLogistic(idx_train, idx_val)
 monitor_grid = Monitor()