diff --git a/.github/workflows/dep_build_v3.yml b/.github/workflows/dep_build_v3.yml
index 1c9bd6105..4f3978b09 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/dep_build_v3.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/dep_build_v3.yml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        java_version: ['8', '17', '21']
+        java_version: ['17', '21']
     env:
       JAVA_OPTS: "-XX:+TieredCompilation -XX:TieredStopAtLevel=1"
     steps:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index ac7633ea0..3518f371a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ on:
     branches:
     - master
     - "3.0"
-    - "2.19"
     paths-ignore:
     - "README.md"
     - "release-notes/*"
@@ -12,7 +11,6 @@ on:
     branches:
     - master
     - "3.0"
-    - "2.19"
     paths-ignore:
     - "README.md"
     - "release-notes/*"
@@ -25,9 +23,9 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        java_version: ['8', '11', '17', '21']
+        java_version: ['17', '21']
         include:
-          - java_version: '8'
+          - java_version: '17'
             release_build: 'R'
     env:
       JAVA_OPTS: "-XX:+TieredCompilation -XX:TieredStopAtLevel=1"
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index dd0e3b77d..4c73b4f49 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -41,7 +41,9 @@
   </issueManagement>
 
   <properties>
-    <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
+    <!-- [databind#4820]: Java 17 baseline -->
+    <javac.src.version>17</javac.src.version>
+    <javac.target.version>17</javac.target.version>
 
     <!-- for Reproducible Builds -->
     <project.build.outputTimestamp>2022-11-28T00:00:00Z</project.build.outputTimestamp>
diff --git a/release-notes/VERSION b/release-notes/VERSION
index 1b56530c0..3debafe0b 100644
--- a/release-notes/VERSION
+++ b/release-notes/VERSION
@@ -27,3 +27,4 @@ implementations)
   `IonGenerator.Feature` as `IonWriteFeature`
 #528: JSTEP-8: rename `SmileParser.Feature` as `SmileReadFeature`,
   `SmileGenerator.Feature` as `SmileWriteFeature`
+- Minimum Java baseline: Java 17