diff --git a/.github/workflows/bleeding-edge.yaml b/.github/workflows/bleeding-edge.yaml
index c932b7ee7f0..bfb19d0e62f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/bleeding-edge.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/bleeding-edge.yaml
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ jobs:
       uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
     - name: Set up Python (newest testable version)
-      uses: actions/setup-python@v3
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v4
       with:
         # the '-dev' suffix allows to use alphas and betas if no final release is available yet
         # this version should be upgraded as often as possible, typically once a year when numpy
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-test.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-test.yaml
index 86ae8ec7fee..084b2c4cb70 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-test.yaml
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
     - name: Set up Python
-      uses: actions/setup-python@v3
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v4
       with:
         python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
     - name: Checkout repo (bare)
diff --git a/.github/workflows/type-checking.yaml b/.github/workflows/type-checking.yaml
index 578516b4b45..97b760aa7b1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/type-checking.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/type-checking.yaml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ jobs:
         fetch-depth: 0
 
     - name: Set up Python
-      uses: actions/setup-python@v3
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v4
       with:
         python-version: '3.7'
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/wheels.yaml b/.github/workflows/wheels.yaml
index afb4ff8939c..3b484e5d15c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/wheels.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/wheels.yaml
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Checkout repo
       uses: actions/checkout@v3
     - name: Set up Python
-      uses: actions/setup-python@v3
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v4
       with:
         python-version: '3.10'
     - name: install check-manifest
diff --git a/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_2x2.py b/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_2x2.py
index 7580dc3918c..0bda1081894 100644
--- a/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_2x2.py
+++ b/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_2x2.py
@@ -53,6 +53,6 @@
     plot.cax = grid.cbar_axes[i]
 
 # Finally, redraw the plot on the AxesGrid axes.
-p._setup_plots()
+p.render()
 
 plt.savefig("multiplot_2x2.png")
diff --git a/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_2x2_coordaxes_slice.py b/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_2x2_coordaxes_slice.py
index f13547d2f71..3998c6d0f3d 100644
--- a/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_2x2_coordaxes_slice.py
+++ b/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_2x2_coordaxes_slice.py
@@ -55,6 +55,6 @@
         plot.cax = grid.cbar_axes[1]
 
     # Finally, redraw the plot.
-    p._setup_plots()
+    p.render()
 
 plt.savefig("multiplot_2x2_coordaxes_slice.png")
diff --git a/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_2x2_time_series.py b/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_2x2_time_series.py
index 7be73311f4e..bdbc7baa62a 100644
--- a/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_2x2_time_series.py
+++ b/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_2x2_time_series.py
@@ -45,6 +45,6 @@
     plot.cax = grid.cbar_axes[i]
 
     # Finally, this actually redraws the plot.
-    p._setup_plots()
+    p.render()
 
 plt.savefig("multiplot_2x2_time_series.png")
diff --git a/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_phaseplot.py b/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_phaseplot.py
index 28f074d35d8..db6d244e6c5 100644
--- a/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_phaseplot.py
+++ b/doc/source/cookbook/multiplot_phaseplot.py
@@ -47,9 +47,9 @@
         plot.cax = grid.cbar_axes[i]
 
     # Actually redraws the plot.
-    p._setup_plots()
+    p.render()
 
-    # Modify the axes properties **after** p._setup_plots() so that they
+    # Modify the axes properties **after** p.render() so that they
     # are not overwritten.
     plot.axes.xaxis.set_minor_locator(plt.LogLocator(base=10.0, subs=[2.0, 5.0, 8.0]))
 
diff --git a/yt/frontends/flash/data_structures.py b/yt/frontends/flash/data_structures.py
index 2362610a66d..7685083dd86 100644
--- a/yt/frontends/flash/data_structures.py
+++ b/yt/frontends/flash/data_structures.py
@@ -400,7 +400,7 @@ def _parse_parameter_file(self):
         dle = np.array([self.parameters[f"{ax}min"] for ax in "xyz"]).astype("float64")
         dre = np.array([self.parameters[f"{ax}max"] for ax in "xyz"]).astype("float64")
         if self.dimensionality < 3:
-            for d in [dimensionality] + list(range(3 - dimensionality)):
+            for d in range(self.dimensionality, 3):
                 if dle[d] == dre[d]:
                     mylog.warning(
                         "Identical domain left edge and right edges "
diff --git a/yt/frontends/sdf/data_structures.py b/yt/frontends/sdf/data_structures.py
index ebe217eb0b5..f5c05f3bcbf 100644
--- a/yt/frontends/sdf/data_structures.py
+++ b/yt/frontends/sdf/data_structures.py
@@ -187,8 +187,11 @@ def _is_valid(cls, filename, *args, **kwargs):
             # Grab a whole 4k page.
             line = next(hreq.iter_content(4096))
         elif os.path.isfile(sdf_header):
-            with open(sdf_header, encoding="ISO-8859-1") as f:
-                line = f.read(10).strip()
+            try:
+                with open(sdf_header, encoding="ISO-8859-1") as f:
+                    line = f.read(10).strip()
+            except PermissionError:
+                return False
         else:
             return False
         return line.startswith("# SDF")
diff --git a/yt/loaders.py b/yt/loaders.py
index 64fb83192ad..bfc525cf0af 100644
--- a/yt/loaders.py
+++ b/yt/loaders.py
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ def load(
     yt.utilities.exceptions.YTAmbiguousDataType
         If the data format matches more than one class of similar specilization levels.
     """
-    fn = os.fspath(fn)
+    fn = os.path.expanduser(fn)
 
     if any(wildcard in fn for wildcard in "[]?!*"):
         from yt.data_objects.time_series import DatasetSeries
diff --git a/yt/visualization/base_plot_types.py b/yt/visualization/base_plot_types.py
index b5774ba5603..682881b0639 100644
--- a/yt/visualization/base_plot_types.py
+++ b/yt/visualization/base_plot_types.py
@@ -2,13 +2,11 @@
 import warnings
 from abc import ABC
 from io import BytesIO
-from typing import Optional, Tuple, Union
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Optional, Tuple, Union
 
 import matplotlib
 import numpy as np
-from matplotlib.axis import Axis
 from matplotlib.colors import LogNorm, Normalize, SymLogNorm
-from matplotlib.figure import Figure
 from matplotlib.ticker import LogFormatterMathtext
 from packaging.version import Version
 
@@ -23,6 +21,10 @@
     validate_image_name,
 )
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from matplotlib.axis import Axis
+    from matplotlib.figure import Figure
+
 BACKEND_SPECS = {
     "GTK": ["backend_gtk", "FigureCanvasGTK", "FigureManagerGTK"],
     "GTKAgg": ["backend_gtkagg", "FigureCanvasGTKAgg", None],
@@ -91,8 +93,8 @@ def __init__(
         axrect,
         *,
         norm_handler: NormHandler,
-        figure: Optional[Figure] = None,
-        axes: Optional[Axis] = None,
+        figure: Optional["Figure"] = None,
+        axes: Optional["Axis"] = None,
     ):
         """Initialize PlotMPL class"""
         import matplotlib.figure
@@ -198,7 +200,7 @@ def _set_font_properties(self, font_properties, font_color):
         for label in self._get_labels():
             label.set_fontproperties(font_properties)
             if font_color is not None:
-                label.set_color(self.font_color)
+                label.set_color(font_color)
 
     def _repr_png_(self):
         from ._mpl_imports import FigureCanvasAgg
@@ -224,9 +226,9 @@ def __init__(
         *,
         norm_handler: NormHandler,
         colorbar_handler: ColorbarHandler,
-        figure: Optional[Figure] = None,
-        axes: Optional[Axis] = None,
-        cax: Optional[Axis] = None,
+        figure: Optional["Figure"] = None,
+        axes: Optional["Axis"] = None,
+        cax: Optional["Axis"] = None,
     ):
         """Initialize ImagePlotMPL class object"""
         self.colorbar_handler = colorbar_handler
diff --git a/yt/visualization/tests/test_plotwindow.py b/yt/visualization/tests/test_plotwindow.py
index 0845af8a8d9..af9aae04e4a 100644
--- a/yt/visualization/tests/test_plotwindow.py
+++ b/yt/visualization/tests/test_plotwindow.py
@@ -913,3 +913,19 @@ def test_invalid_swap_projection():
     slc.set_mpl_projection("Robinson")
     slc.swap_axes()  # should raise mylog.warning and not toggle _swap_axes
     assert slc._has_swapped_axes is False
+
+
+def test_set_font():
+    # simply check that calling the set_font method doesn't raise an error
+    # https://github.com/yt-project/yt/issues/4263
+    ds = fake_amr_ds()
+    slc = SlicePlot(ds, "x", "Density")
+    slc.set_font(
+        {
+            "family": "sans-serif",
+            "style": "italic",
+            "weight": "bold",
+            "size": 24,
+            "color": "blue",
+        }
+    )