diff --git a/.appveyor.yml b/.appveyor.yml
index febfd623ef..1a6a4346e9 100644
--- a/.appveyor.yml
+++ b/.appveyor.yml
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 environment:
   matrix:
     - TARGET_ARCH: x64
-      CONDA_PY: 3.7
+      CONDA_PY: 3.9
       CONDA_INSTALL_LOCN: C:\\Miniconda37-x64
       APPVEYOR_BUILD_WORKER_IMAGE: Visual Studio 2017
       platform: x64
       SHARED: OFF
 
     - TARGET_ARCH: x86
-      CONDA_PY: 3.7
+      CONDA_PY: 3.9
       CONDA_INSTALL_LOCN: C:\\Miniconda37
       APPVEYOR_BUILD_WORKER_IMAGE: Visual Studio 2017
       platform: x86
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 3186001384..ac8b3000f7 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -112,21 +112,6 @@ RUN         for whl in /opt/src/dist/*.whl; do \
             && du -hs /opt/src/dist/* \
             && du -hs /wheelhouse/*
 
-# test in fresh env: Debian:Sid + Python 3.8
-FROM       debian:sid
-ENV        DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive
-COPY --from=build-env /wheelhouse/openPMD_api-*-cp38-cp38-manylinux2010_x86_64.whl .
-RUN        apt-get update \
-           && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends python3.8 python3-distutils ca-certificates curl \
-           && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
-RUN        python3.8 --version \
-           && curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py \
-           && python3.8 get-pip.py \
-           && python3.8 -m pip install openPMD_api-*-cp38-cp38-manylinux2010_x86_64.whl
-RUN        python3.8 -c "import openpmd_api as io; print(io.__version__); print(io.variants)"
-RUN        python3.8 -m openpmd_api.ls --help
-RUN        openpmd-ls --help
-
 # test in fresh env: Debian:Bullseye + Python 3.9
 FROM       debian:bullseye
 ENV        DEBIAN_FRONTEND noninteractive
diff --git a/NEWS.rst b/NEWS.rst
index c3abe97204..60d68e19a0 100644
--- a/NEWS.rst
+++ b/NEWS.rst
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ Upgrade Guide
 
 ADIOS 2.9.0 is now the minimally supported version for ADIOS2 support.
 
+Python 3.8 support is EOL and removed.
+
+
 0.16.0
 ------
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ce7a2bd5fe..ebc8e5d0fd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ while those can be built either with or without:
 
 Optional language bindings:
 * Python:
-  * Python 3.8 - 3.13
+  * Python 3.9 - 3.13
   * pybind11 2.13.0+
   * numpy 1.15+
   * mpi4py 2.1+ (optional, for MPI)
diff --git a/Singularity b/Singularity
index f58b39a2d5..5d77c6dd55 100644
--- a/Singularity
+++ b/Singularity
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ Supported frontends are C++11 and Python3.
         -DopenPMD_USE_PYTHON=ON  \
         -DopenPMD_BUILD_TESTING=OFF       \
         -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local \
-        -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PYTHONDIR=lib/python3.6/dist-packages
+        -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PYTHONDIR=lib/python3.12/dist-packages
     make
     # make test
     make install
diff --git a/cmake/dependencies/pybind11.cmake b/cmake/dependencies/pybind11.cmake
index 70899de816..90d7a8d602 100644
--- a/cmake/dependencies/pybind11.cmake
+++ b/cmake/dependencies/pybind11.cmake
@@ -83,9 +83,9 @@ set(openPMD_pybind11_branch "v2.13.6"
     "Repository branch for openPMD_pybind11_repo if(openPMD_USE_INTERNAL_PYBIND11)")
 
 if(openPMD_USE_PYTHON STREQUAL AUTO)
-    find_package(Python 3.7.0 COMPONENTS Interpreter Development.Module)
+    find_package(Python 3.9.0 COMPONENTS Interpreter Development.Module)
 elseif(openPMD_USE_PYTHON)
-    find_package(Python 3.7.0 COMPONENTS Interpreter Development.Module REQUIRED)
+    find_package(Python 3.9.0 COMPONENTS Interpreter Development.Module REQUIRED)
 else()
     set(openPMD_HAVE_PYTHON FALSE)
 endif()
diff --git a/conda.yml b/conda.yml
index 70fc817bf6..a737fc425d 100644
--- a/conda.yml
+++ b/conda.yml
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ dependencies:
   - pre-commit
   - pyarrow  # for dask
 #  - pybind11  # shipped internally
-  - python>=3.8
+  - python>=3.9
 
 # just a note for later hackery, we could install pip packages inside the env, too:
 #  - pip:
diff --git a/docs/source/dev/dependencies.rst b/docs/source/dev/dependencies.rst
index 9fa226f416..beb1c9f278 100644
--- a/docs/source/dev/dependencies.rst
+++ b/docs/source/dev/dependencies.rst
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Optional: language bindings
 
 * Python:
 
-  * Python 3.8 - 3.13
+  * Python 3.9 - 3.13
   * pybind11 2.13.0+
   * numpy 1.15+
   * mpi4py 2.1+ (optional, for MPI)
diff --git a/docs/source/install/install.rst b/docs/source/install/install.rst
index a0268a2a99..08e56dba5b 100644
--- a/docs/source/install/install.rst
+++ b/docs/source/install/install.rst
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ CMake will summarize the install paths for you before the build step.
    # Note that one some systems, /lib might need to be replaced with /lib64.
 
    #                change path to your python MAJOR.MINOR version
-   export PYTHONPATH=$HOME/somepath/lib/python3.8/site-packages:$PYTHONPATH
+   export PYTHONPATH=$HOME/somepath/lib/python3.12/site-packages:$PYTHONPATH
 
 Adding those lines to your ``$HOME/.bashrc`` and re-opening your terminal will set them permanently.
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 1ef958e87d..366eb0413d 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ def build_extension(self, ext):
     cmdclass=dict(build_ext=CMakeBuild),
     # scripts=['openpmd-ls'],
     zip_safe=False,
-    python_requires='>=3.8',
+    python_requires='>=3.9',
     # tests_require=['pytest'],
     install_requires=install_requires,
     # see: src/bindings/python/cli
@@ -232,7 +232,6 @@ def build_extension(self, ext):
         'Topic :: Database :: Front-Ends',
         'Programming Language :: C++',
         'Programming Language :: Python :: 3',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8',
         'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9',
         'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10',
         'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11',