diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 40a7a56d..cb8ca0ee 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ platforms = OS Independent
 [options]
 setup_requires =
   setuptools_scm
-python_requires = >=3.8
+python_requires = >=3.9
 install_requires =
     # core packages
     scikit_image>=0.14.2