diff --git a/.github/workflows/pullrequest.yml b/.github/workflows/pullrequest.yml
index 74c7fc82..36989fde 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pullrequest.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pullrequest.yml
@@ -13,15 +13,15 @@ jobs:
             build:
                 - java: 17
                   profile: codequality
-                - java: 8
-                  profile: java8
+                - java: 11
+                  profile: java11
     name: with Java ${{ matrix.build.java }}
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os}}
     steps:
       - name: Check out the code
         uses: actions/checkout@85e6279cec87321a52edac9c87bce653a07cf6c2
 
-      - name: Set up JDK 8
+      - name: Set up JDK 11
         uses: actions/setup-java@f4f1212c880fdec8162ea9a6493f4495191887b4
         with:
             java-version: ${{ matrix.build.java }}
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 429d2ae4..09f9683e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
 
 ### Requirements
 
-- Java 8+ (compiler target is 1.8)
+- Java 11+ (compiler target is 11)
 
 Note that this library is intended to be used in server-side contexts and has not been evaluated for use on mobile devices.
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index e93e0758..239aa420 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
     <properties>
         <toolchain.jdk.version>[17,)</toolchain.jdk.version>
         <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
-        <maven.compiler.source>1.8</maven.compiler.source>
+        <maven.compiler.source>11</maven.compiler.source>
         <maven.compiler.target>${maven.compiler.source}</maven.compiler.target>
         <junit.jupiter.version>5.12.2</junit.jupiter.version>
         <io.cucumber.version>7.22.1</io.cucumber.version>
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
         <module-name>${project.groupId}.${project.artifactId}</module-name>
         <skip.tests>false</skip.tests>
         <!-- this will throw an error if we use wrong apis -->
-        <maven.compiler.release>8</maven.compiler.release>
+        <maven.compiler.release>11</maven.compiler.release>
     </properties>
 
     <name>OpenFeature Java SDK</name>
@@ -646,14 +646,14 @@
                 </plugins>
             </build>
         </profile>
-        <!-- profile for running tests under java 8 (used mostly in CI) -->
-        <!-- selected automatically by JDK activeation (see https://maven.apache.org/guides/introduction/introduction-to-profiles.html#implicit-profile-activation) -->
+        <!-- profile for running tests under java 11 (used mostly in CI) -->
+        <!-- selected automatically by JDK activation (see https://maven.apache.org/guides/introduction/introduction-to-profiles.html#implicit-profile-activation) -->
         <profile>
-            <id>java8</id>
+            <id>java11</id>
             <!-- with the next block we can define a set of sdks which still support java 8, if any of the sdks is not supporting java 8 anymore -->
             <!--<modules><module></module></modules>-->
             <properties>
-                <toolchain.jdk.version>(1.8,9)</toolchain.jdk.version>
+                <toolchain.jdk.version>[11,)</toolchain.jdk.version>
                 <skip.tests>true</skip.tests>
             </properties>