diff --git a/.github/workflows/test_and_deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/test_and_deploy.yml
index c8d4a820f..a3e1c3e41 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test_and_deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test_and_deploy.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: ['3.8', '3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12']
+        python-version: ['3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12']
         os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest]
       fail-fast: false
     steps:
@@ -44,15 +44,15 @@ jobs:
         run: pip install -e '.[dev]'
       - name: Run tests
         run: python -m pytest --import-mode=append -svx nle/tests
-  test_sdist_3_8:
-    name: Test sdist on MacOS w/ Py3.8
+  test_sdist_3_9:
+    name: Test sdist on MacOS w/ Py3.9
     needs: test_repo
     runs-on: macos-latest
     steps:
-      - name: Setup Python 3.8 env
+      - name: Setup Python 3.9 env
         uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
-          python-version: 3.8
+          python-version: 3.9
       - name: Ensure latest pip, wheel & setuptools
         run: python -m pip install -q --upgrade pip wheel setuptools
       - name: Install dependencies
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test_package.yml b/.github/workflows/test_package.yml
index 1d6145fa8..4c70113df 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test_package.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test_package.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: macos-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']
       fail-fast: false
     steps:
     - name: Setup Python ${{ matrix.python-version }} env
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 703ae7dc1..67fc8c897 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ with other gym (or Gynmasium) / RL environments.
 
 ## Installation
 
-NLE requires `python>=3.8`, `cmake>=3.18` to be installed and available both when building the
+NLE requires `python>=3.9`, `cmake>=3.18` to be installed and available both when building the
 package, and at runtime.
 
 On **MacOS**, one can use `Homebrew` as follows:
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ Afterwards it's a matter of setting up your environment. We advise using a conda
 environment for this:
 
 ```bash
-$ conda create -y -n nle python=3.8
+$ conda create -y -n nle python=3.9
 $ conda activate nle
 $ pip install nle
 ```
diff --git a/doc/nle/source/getting_started.rst b/doc/nle/source/getting_started.rst
index 597b8b8dc..55a25db33 100644
--- a/doc/nle/source/getting_started.rst
+++ b/doc/nle/source/getting_started.rst
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Getting Started
 Dependencies
 ************
 
-NLE requires `python>=3.8`, `cmake>=3.18` and some NetHack dependencies
+NLE requires `python>=3.9`, `cmake>=3.18` and some NetHack dependencies
 (e.g. `libncurses`) to be installed and available both when building the
 package, and at runtime.
 
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile-focal b/docker/Dockerfile-focal
index b1ac77344..f13d1a154 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile-focal
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile-focal
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ FROM nvidia/cuda:12.4.1-devel-ubuntu20.04
 ARG TARGETPLATFORM
 RUN echo "Building image for $TARGETPLATFORM"
 
-ARG PYTHON_VERSION=3.8
+ARG PYTHON_VERSION=3.9
 ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
 
 RUN apt-get update && \
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile.valgrind b/docker/Dockerfile.valgrind
index 4b0dc55b5..61f9524dc 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile.valgrind
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile.valgrind
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 FROM ubuntu:20.04
 
-ARG PYTHON_VERSION=3.8
+ARG PYTHON_VERSION=3.9
 ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
 
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -yq \
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 56c0d9a4e..0d145383f 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -157,14 +157,13 @@ def build_extension(self, ext):
         setup_requires=["pybind11>=2.2"],
         install_requires=["pybind11>=2.2", "numpy>=1.16", "gymnasium==1.0.0"],
         extras_require=extras_deps,
-        python_requires=">=3.8",
+        python_requires=">=3.9",
         classifiers=[
             "License :: OSI Approved :: Nethack General Public License",
             "Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable",
             "Operating System :: POSIX :: Linux",
             "Operating System :: MacOS",
             "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
-            "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8",
             "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9",
             "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10",
             "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11",