diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index f063b1c0..75f86c3a 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -45,7 +45,9 @@ jar {
 }
 
 java {
+  // Specify to gradle that the project expects to be built with java 21, but produce output compatible with Java 8
   sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
+  toolchain.languageVersion = JavaLanguageVersion.of(21)
 }
 
 test {
@@ -129,10 +131,6 @@ dependencies {
   annotationProcessor "info.picocli:picocli-codegen:${picocliVersion}"
 }
 
-java {
-  sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
-}
-
 compileJava {
   options.encoding = 'utf-8'
 }