diff --git a/doctest/bootstrap.sh b/doctest/bootstrap.sh
index d50eb50401..d239a358d0 100755
--- a/doctest/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/doctest/bootstrap.sh
@@ -2,13 +2,13 @@
 
 DIR=$(dirname "$0")
 
-if hash python3.7 2> /dev/null; then
-    PYTHON=python3.7
+if hash python3.8 2> /dev/null; then
+    PYTHON=python3.8
 elif hash python3 2> /dev/null; then
-    # fallback to python3 in case there is no python3.7 alias; should be 3.7
+    # fallback to python3 in case there is no python3.8 alias; should be 3.8
     PYTHON=python3
 else
-    echo 'python3.7 required'
+    echo 'python3.8 required'
     exit 1
 fi