diff --git a/.rubocop.yml b/.rubocop.yml
index ab4ac3978..4b2266fde 100644
--- a/.rubocop.yml
+++ b/.rubocop.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ require: rubocop-performance
 inherit_from: .rubocop_todo.yml
 
 AllCops:
-  TargetRubyVersion: 2.3
+  TargetRubyVersion: 2.5
   Exclude:
     # Ignore HTML related things
     - '**/*.erb'
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 704560aa1..b1fe82ea5 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -22,24 +22,21 @@ group :test do
   gem 'simplecov-console'
   gem 'rspec', '~> 3.1'
   gem 'json_spec', '~> 1.1', '>= 1.1.5'
-  gem 'mdl', '~> 0.8.0' if Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION.dup) >= Gem::Version.new('2.4.0')
+  gem 'mdl'
 end
 
 group :acceptance do
-  # Litmus has dependencies which require Ruby 2.5 (Puppet 6) or above.
-  if Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION.dup) >= Gem::Version.new('2.5.0')
-    gem 'puppet_litmus', '~> 0.18'
-    gem 'net-ssh', '~> 5.2'
-  end
+  gem 'puppet_litmus'
+  gem 'net-ssh'
 end
 
 group :development do
-  gem 'github_changelog_generator', '~> 1.15' if Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION.dup) >= Gem::Version.new('2.3.0')
+  gem 'github_changelog_generator'
   gem 'pry'
   gem 'pry-byebug'
 end
 
-gem 'rubocop', '~> 0.81.0' # last release that supports Ruby 2.3.0
+gem 'rubocop', '~> 0.81.0' # Requires work to upgrade
 gem 'rubocop-rspec'
 gem 'rubocop-performance'
 
diff --git a/puppet-strings.gemspec b/puppet-strings.gemspec
index f6191c837..be932d0e0 100644
--- a/puppet-strings.gemspec
+++ b/puppet-strings.gemspec
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.email = 'info@puppet.com'
   s.homepage = 'https://github.com/puppetlabs/puppet-strings'
   s.description = s.summary
-  s.required_ruby_version = '>= 2.3.0'
+  s.required_ruby_version = '>= 2.5.0'
 
   s.extra_rdoc_files = [
     'CHANGELOG.md',
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 2e6598dc0..708e68a3c 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -1,19 +1,16 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 if ENV['COVERAGE'] == 'yes'
+  require 'codecov'
   require 'simplecov'
   require 'simplecov-console'
 
   SimpleCov.formatters = [
     SimpleCov::Formatter::HTMLFormatter,
     SimpleCov::Formatter::Console,
+    SimpleCov::Formatter::Codecov,
   ]
 
-  unless Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION.dup) < Gem::Version.new('2.3.0')
-    require 'codecov'
-    SimpleCov.formatters << SimpleCov::Formatter::Codecov
-  end
-
   SimpleCov.start do
     track_files 'lib/**/*.rb'
 
@@ -22,6 +19,7 @@
 end
 
 require 'mocha'
+require 'mdl'
 require 'rspec'
 require 'json_spec'
 require 'puppet/version'
@@ -54,15 +52,7 @@
   end
 end
 
-def mdl_available
-  @mdl_available ||= !Gem::Specification.select { |item| item.name.casecmp('mdl').zero? }.empty?
-end
-
 def lint_markdown(content)
-  return [] unless mdl_available
-
-  require 'mdl'
-
   # Load default mdl ruleset
   ruleset = MarkdownLint::RuleSet.new.tap { |r| r.load_default }
 
diff --git a/spec/unit/puppet-strings/markdown_spec.rb b/spec/unit/puppet-strings/markdown_spec.rb
index 02ea5d46b..96246e58b 100644
--- a/spec/unit/puppet-strings/markdown_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/puppet-strings/markdown_spec.rb
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ def parse_data_type_content
   let(:output) { PuppetStrings::Markdown.generate }
 
   RSpec.shared_examples 'markdown lint checker' do |parameter|
-    it 'should not generate markdown lint errors from the rendered markdown', if: mdl_available do
+    it 'should not generate markdown lint errors from the rendered markdown' do
       expect(output).to have_no_markdown_lint_errors
     end
   end