diff --git a/.idea/compiler.xml b/.idea/compiler.xml
index 5f523abe..a447057c 100644
--- a/.idea/compiler.xml
+++ b/.idea/compiler.xml
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
       </profile>
     </annotationProcessing>
     <bytecodeTargetLevel>
-      <module name="girders-starter-swagger" target="21" />
+      <module name="girders-starter-swagger" target="11" />
     </bytecodeTargetLevel>
   </component>
 </project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.idea/misc.xml b/.idea/misc.xml
index 67af4ca5..3496ecdf 100644
--- a/.idea/misc.xml
+++ b/.idea/misc.xml
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <project version="4">
   <component name="ExternalStorageConfigurationManager" enabled="true" />
   <component name="FrameworkDetectionExcludesConfiguration">
@@ -11,7 +12,7 @@
       </list>
     </option>
   </component>
-  <component name="ProjectRootManager" version="2" languageLevel="JDK_21" default="true" project-jdk-name="zulu-21" project-jdk-type="JavaSDK" />
+  <component name="ProjectRootManager" version="2" languageLevel="JDK_17" default="true" project-jdk-name="17" project-jdk-type="JavaSDK" />
   <component name="ProjectType">
     <option name="id" value="jpab" />
   </component>
diff --git a/girders-demos/pom.xml b/girders-demos/pom.xml
index 4c9a7b0e..02d7e02e 100644
--- a/girders-demos/pom.xml
+++ b/girders-demos/pom.xml
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@
   </modules>
 
   <properties>
-    <jdk.version>21</jdk.version>
-    <maven.compiler.source>21</maven.compiler.source>
-    <maven.compiler.target>21</maven.compiler.target>
+    <jdk.version>17</jdk.version>
+    <maven.compiler.source>17</maven.compiler.source>
+    <maven.compiler.target>17</maven.compiler.target>
     <!-- version properties -->
     <bootstrap.version>4.6.2</bootstrap.version>
     <girders.version>6.2.3-SNAPSHOT</girders.version>
diff --git a/girders-parent/pom.xml b/girders-parent/pom.xml
index 444b0d88..1717440b 100644
--- a/girders-parent/pom.xml
+++ b/girders-parent/pom.xml
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@
   <description>Girders Parent</description>
 
   <properties>
-    <java.source.version>21</java.source.version>
-    <java.target.version>21</java.target.version>
+    <java.source.version>17</java.source.version>
+    <java.target.version>17</java.target.version>
     <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
     <!-- plugin versions -->
     <checkstyle.version>10.12.1</checkstyle.version>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 84f21740..03a7bf52 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@
   </modules>
 
   <properties>
-    <jdk.version>21</jdk.version>
+    <jdk.version>17</jdk.version>
     <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
     <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
     <coverage.minimum>0.8</coverage.minimum>
diff --git a/src/site/markdown/quickstart/index.md b/src/site/markdown/quickstart/index.md
index 5aa6dc89..fed5d1f0 100644
--- a/src/site/markdown/quickstart/index.md
+++ b/src/site/markdown/quickstart/index.md
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ pom.xml:
       
       <properties> 
         <!-- Set the major version number of Java that you want to use -->
-        <jdk.version>21</jdk.version>
+        <jdk.version>17</jdk.version>
         
         <!-- This is the version of Girders you want to use. Ideally, this is the only version number that you have
           to configure for the dependency management. -->