diff --git a/flopy/utils/datafile.py b/flopy/utils/datafile.py
index 5c32b7292..90c0cd37e 100644
--- a/flopy/utils/datafile.py
+++ b/flopy/utils/datafile.py
@@ -4,6 +4,15 @@
 
 """
 
+# in LayerFile, the recordarray attribute begins its life as
+# a list, which is appended to in subclasses' build_index(),
+# then finally becomes an array, after which it's accessed
+# in this file by column name. this probably deserves some
+# attention, but in the meantime, disable the pylint rule
+# to appease codacy.
+#
+# pylint: disable=invalid-sequence-index
+
 import os
 import warnings
 from pathlib import Path