diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index f9c9b7390..af0eb1cbc 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -80,26 +80,7 @@ Here's how you can set up your local development environment to contribute.
 
 #### Prerequisites for PySpark tests
 
-If you want to run PySpark-related tests, you'll need to have Java installed:
-
-- On Ubuntu/Debian:
-  ```bash
-  sudo apt-get update
-  sudo apt-get install default-jdk
-  sudo apt-get install default-jre
-  ```
-
-- On macOS:
-  Follow the instructions [here](https://www.java.com/en/download/help/mac_install.html)
-
-- On Windows:
-  Follow the instructions [here](https://www.java.com/en/download/help/windows_manual_download.html)
-  - Add JAVA_HOME to your environment variables
-
-You can verify your Java installation by running:
-```bash
-java -version
-```
+If you want to run PySpark-related tests, you'll need to have Java installed. Refer to the [Spark documentation](https://spark.apache.org/docs/latest/#downloading) for more information.
 
 #### Option 1: Use UV (recommended)
 
diff --git a/narwhals/_spark_like/expr.py b/narwhals/_spark_like/expr.py
index 9eba0d658..746cfa6b0 100644
--- a/narwhals/_spark_like/expr.py
+++ b/narwhals/_spark_like/expr.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 from narwhals._spark_like.utils import maybe_evaluate
 from narwhals.typing import CompliantExpr
 from narwhals.utils import Implementation
+from narwhals.utils import get_module_version_as_tuple
 from narwhals.utils import parse_version
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -20,6 +21,8 @@
     from narwhals._spark_like.namespace import SparkLikeNamespace
     from narwhals.utils import Version
 
+PYSPARK_VERSION: tuple[int, ...] = get_module_version_as_tuple("pyspark")
+
 
 class SparkLikeExpr(CompliantExpr["Column"]):
     _implementation = Implementation.PYSPARK
@@ -222,9 +225,16 @@ def mean(self) -> Self:
         return self._from_call(F.mean, "mean", returns_scalar=True)
 
     def median(self) -> Self:
-        from pyspark.sql import functions as F  # noqa: N812
+        def _median(_input: Column) -> Column:
+            from pyspark.sql import functions as F  # noqa: N812
+
+            if PYSPARK_VERSION < (3, 4):
+                # Use percentile_approx with default accuracy parameter (10000)
+                return F.percentile_approx(_input.cast("double"), 0.5)
+
+            return F.median(_input)
 
-        return self._from_call(F.median, "median", returns_scalar=True)
+        return self._from_call(_median, "median", returns_scalar=True)
 
     def min(self) -> Self:
         from pyspark.sql import functions as F  # noqa: N812
diff --git a/narwhals/utils.py b/narwhals/utils.py
index 658c0e7bf..8d4899f2a 100644
--- a/narwhals/utils.py
+++ b/narwhals/utils.py
@@ -155,7 +155,11 @@ def is_pandas_like(self) -> bool:
             >>> df.implementation.is_pandas_like()
             True
         """
-        return self in {Implementation.PANDAS, Implementation.MODIN, Implementation.CUDF}
+        return self in {
+            Implementation.PANDAS,
+            Implementation.MODIN,
+            Implementation.CUDF,
+        }
 
     def is_polars(self) -> bool:
         """Return whether implementation is Polars.
@@ -1054,3 +1058,10 @@ def generate_repr(header: str, native_repr: str) -> str:
         "| Use `.to_native` to see native output |\n└"
         f"{'─' * 39}┘"
     )
+
+
+def get_module_version_as_tuple(module_name: str) -> tuple[int, ...]:
+    try:
+        return parse_version(__import__(module_name).__version__)
+    except ImportError:
+        return (0, 0, 0)
diff --git a/tests/spark_like_test.py b/tests/spark_like_test.py
index f76aded2a..b38f9499a 100644
--- a/tests/spark_like_test.py
+++ b/tests/spark_like_test.py
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-import sys
 from contextlib import nullcontext as does_not_raise
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 from typing import Any
@@ -958,10 +957,6 @@ def test_left_join_overlapping_column(pyspark_constructor: Constructor) -> None:
 
 
 # Copied from tests/expr_and_series/median_test.py
-@pytest.mark.xfail(
-    sys.version_info < (3, 9),
-    reason="median() not supported on Python 3.8",
-)
 def test_median(pyspark_constructor: Constructor) -> None:
     data = {"a": [3, 8, 2, None], "b": [5, 5, None, 7], "z": [7.0, 8, 9, None]}
     df = nw.from_native(pyspark_constructor(data))
diff --git a/tests/utils.py b/tests/utils.py
index 34f1bfa1e..25707ca86 100644
--- a/tests/utils.py
+++ b/tests/utils.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 from narwhals.typing import IntoDataFrame
 from narwhals.typing import IntoFrame
 from narwhals.utils import Implementation
-from narwhals.utils import parse_version
+from narwhals.utils import get_module_version_as_tuple
 
 if sys.version_info >= (3, 10):
     from typing import TypeAlias  # pragma: no cover
@@ -22,13 +22,6 @@
     from typing_extensions import TypeAlias  # pragma: no cover
 
 
-def get_module_version_as_tuple(module_name: str) -> tuple[int, ...]:
-    try:
-        return parse_version(__import__(module_name).__version__)
-    except ImportError:
-        return (0, 0, 0)
-
-
 IBIS_VERSION: tuple[int, ...] = get_module_version_as_tuple("ibis")
 NUMPY_VERSION: tuple[int, ...] = get_module_version_as_tuple("numpy")
 PANDAS_VERSION: tuple[int, ...] = get_module_version_as_tuple("pandas")
diff --git a/tests/utils_test.py b/tests/utils_test.py
index 26bd2ecf9..a026aa495 100644
--- a/tests/utils_test.py
+++ b/tests/utils_test.py
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@
 from pandas.testing import assert_series_equal
 
 import narwhals.stable.v1 as nw
+from narwhals.utils import get_module_version_as_tuple
 from tests.utils import PANDAS_VERSION
-from tests.utils import get_module_version_as_tuple
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from narwhals.series import Series