diff --git a/elastic-apm-agent/pom.xml b/elastic-apm-agent/pom.xml
index 7a50a60f44..351ea50414 100644
--- a/elastic-apm-agent/pom.xml
+++ b/elastic-apm-agent/pom.xml
@@ -408,6 +408,7 @@
                 <artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
                 <configuration>
                     <additionalOptions>-html5</additionalOptions>
+                    <source>8</source>
                 </configuration>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index dd7e7e7ad4..5897300899 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -273,6 +273,7 @@
                 <artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
                 <configuration>
                     <additionalOptions>-html5</additionalOptions>
+                    <source>8</source>
                 </configuration>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>