diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index d3ae1c40f..8b151f124 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: [ '3.8', '3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12' ]
+        python-version: [ '3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12' ]
     env:
       PYTEST_ADDOPTS: >-
         --log-dir=/tmp/ci-logs
diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index a975b52ec..1161ba0b7 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ repos:
   rev: v3.4.0
   hooks:
   - id: pyupgrade
-    args: [ --py38-plus ]
+    args: [ --py39-plus ]
 
 - repo: https://github.com/pycqa/autoflake
   rev: v2.1.1
diff --git a/GNUmakefile b/GNUmakefile
index 7f9c90191..0749b7613 100644
--- a/GNUmakefile
+++ b/GNUmakefile
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ SHELL := /usr/bin/env bash
 VENV_DIR ?= $(CURDIR)/venv
 PIP      ?= pip3 --disable-pip-version-check --no-input --require-virtualenv
 PYTHON   ?= python3
-PYTHON_VERSION ?= 3.8
+PYTHON_VERSION ?= 3.9
 
 define PIN_VERSIONS_COMMAND
 pip install pip-tools && \
diff --git a/mypy.ini b/mypy.ini
index 15ab9042f..0a0230c5f 100644
--- a/mypy.ini
+++ b/mypy.ini
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [mypy]
 mypy_path = $MYPY_CONFIG_FILE_DIR/stubs
-python_version = 3.8
+python_version = 3.9
 packages = karapace
 show_error_codes = True
 pretty = True
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 089668037..7b7efb33e 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "karapace"
-requires-python = ">= 3.8"
+requires-python = ">= 3.9"
 dynamic = ["version"]
 readme = "README.rst"
 license = {file = "LICENSE"}
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ classifiers=[
   "Intended Audience :: Information Technology",
   "Intended Audience :: System Administrators",
   "License :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software License",
-  "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8",
   "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9",
   "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10",
   "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11",
@@ -107,5 +106,5 @@ include-package-data = true
 version_file = "src/karapace/version.py"
 
 [tool.black]
-target-version = ["py38"]
+target-version = ["py39"]
 line-length = 125
diff --git a/runtime.txt b/runtime.txt
index 9e9414fda..57f558859 100644
--- a/runtime.txt
+++ b/runtime.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-python-3.8.16
+python-3.9.20
diff --git a/website/README.rst b/website/README.rst
index 67e55aeef..c333ba578 100644
--- a/website/README.rst
+++ b/website/README.rst
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ A static HTML site, generated with Sphinx. You can find the website source in th
 Dependencies
 ------------
 
-You need Python 3.8+. Install the dependencies with ``pip``::
+You need Python 3.9+. Install the dependencies with ``pip``::
 
     pip install -r requirements.txt