diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index 45b8364c6..501e073d9 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ repos:
       - id: ruff
         name: ruff mne_bids/
         files: ^mne_bids/
+        args: ["--fix"]
       - id: ruff
         name: ruff examples/
         # D103: missing docstring in public function
diff --git a/mne_bids/conftest.py b/mne_bids/conftest.py
index 784ef0479..8c1a7a110 100644
--- a/mne_bids/conftest.py
+++ b/mne_bids/conftest.py
@@ -13,6 +13,15 @@ def pytest_configure(config):
     config.addinivalue_line("usefixtures", "monkeypatch_mne")
 
 
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def close_all():
+    """Close all figures after each test."""
+    yield
+    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+
+    plt.close("all")
+
+
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
 def monkeypatch_mne():
     """Monkeypatch MNE to ensure we have download=False everywhere in tests."""
diff --git a/mne_bids/tests/data/tiny_bids/code/make_tiny_bids_dataset.py b/mne_bids/tests/data/tiny_bids/code/make_tiny_bids_dataset.py
index 3ce5f24a3..753e4f81e 100644
--- a/mne_bids/tests/data/tiny_bids/code/make_tiny_bids_dataset.py
+++ b/mne_bids/tests/data/tiny_bids/code/make_tiny_bids_dataset.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 # %%
 import json
+from datetime import date
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import mne
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@
     "last_name": "Musterperson",
     "first_name": "Maxi",
     "middle_name": "Luka",
-    "birthday": (1970, 10, 20),
+    "birthday": date(1970, 10, 20),
     "sex": 2,
     "hand": 3,
 }
diff --git a/mne_bids/tests/test_read.py b/mne_bids/tests/test_read.py
index 03ef3aeb3..09a61af4e 100644
--- a/mne_bids/tests/test_read.py
+++ b/mne_bids/tests/test_read.py
@@ -827,12 +827,9 @@ def test_handle_chpi_reading(tmp_path):
 
     with (
         pytest.warns(RuntimeWarning, match="Defaulting to .* mne.Raw object"),
-        pytest.warns(
-            RuntimeWarning, match="This file contains raw Internal Active Shielding"
-        ),
         pytest.warns(RuntimeWarning, match="The unit for channel"),
     ):
-        raw_read = read_raw_bids(bids_path)
+        raw_read = read_raw_bids(bids_path, extra_params=dict(allow_maxshield="yes"))
 
     # cHPI "off" according to sidecar, but present in the data
     meg_json_data_chpi_mismatch = meg_json_data.copy()
diff --git a/mne_bids/tests/test_write.py b/mne_bids/tests/test_write.py
index 2a35c587d..99c88ce8b 100644
--- a/mne_bids/tests/test_write.py
+++ b/mne_bids/tests/test_write.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 import shutil as sh
 import sys
 import warnings
-from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
+from datetime import date, datetime, timedelta, timezone
 from glob import glob
 from pathlib import Path
 
@@ -222,9 +222,12 @@ def test_write_participants(_bids_validate, tmp_path):
 
     # add fake participants data
     raw.set_meas_date(datetime(year=1994, month=1, day=26, tzinfo=timezone.utc))
+    birthday = (1993, 1, 26)
+    if check_version("mne", "1.8"):
+        birthday = date(*birthday)
     raw.info["subject_info"] = {
         "his_id": subject_id2,
-        "birthday": (1993, 1, 26),
+        "birthday": birthday,
         "sex": 1,
         "hand": 2,
     }
@@ -707,9 +710,12 @@ def test_fif(_bids_validate, tmp_path):
     # data
     # change the gender but don't force overwrite.
     raw = _read_raw_fif(raw_fname)
+    birthday = (1994, 1, 26)
+    if check_version("mne", "1.8"):
+        birthday = date(*birthday)
     raw.info["subject_info"] = {
         "his_id": subject_id2,
-        "birthday": (1994, 1, 26),
+        "birthday": birthday,
         "sex": 2,
         "hand": 1,
     }
diff --git a/mne_bids/write.py b/mne_bids/write.py
index 19da86847..563454c78 100644
--- a/mne_bids/write.py
+++ b/mne_bids/write.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 import sys
 import warnings
 from collections import OrderedDict, defaultdict
-from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
+from datetime import date, datetime, timedelta, timezone
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import mne
@@ -456,12 +456,14 @@ def _participants_tsv(raw, subject_id, fname, overwrite=False):
 
         # determine the age of the participant
         age = subject_info.get("birthday", None)
+        if isinstance(age, tuple):  # can be removed once MNE >= 1.8 is required
+            age = date(*age)
         meas_date = raw.info.get("meas_date", None)
         if isinstance(meas_date, (tuple, list, np.ndarray)):
             meas_date = meas_date[0]
 
         if meas_date is not None and age is not None:
-            bday = datetime(age[0], age[1], age[2], tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+            bday = datetime(age.year, age.month, age.day, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
             if isinstance(meas_date, datetime):
                 meas_datetime = meas_date
             else:
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 272befae4..43fdd09db 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ full = [
 ]
 
 # Dependencies for running the test infrastructure
-test = ["mne_bids[full]", "pytest", "pytest-cov", "pytest-sugar", "ruff"]
+test = ["mne_bids[full]", "pytest >= 8", "pytest-cov", "pytest-sugar", "ruff"]
 
 # Dependencies for building the documentation
 doc = [
@@ -148,4 +148,6 @@ filterwarnings = [
     # old MNE _fake_click
     "ignore:The .*_event function was deprecated in Matplotlib.*:",
     "ignore:datetime\\.datetime\\.utcfromtimestamp.* is deprecated and scheduled for removal in a future version.*:DeprecationWarning",
+    # matplotlib
+    "ignore:Figure.*is non-interactive.*cannot be shown:UserWarning",
 ]