diff --git a/documentation/jetty-documentation/pom.xml b/documentation/jetty-documentation/pom.xml
index 6ee2cf30612d..ba8ec747fd6f 100644
--- a/documentation/jetty-documentation/pom.xml
+++ b/documentation/jetty-documentation/pom.xml
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@
           <fail>false</fail>
           <rules>
             <requireJavaVersion>
-              <version>[21,)</version>
-              <message>[ERROR] OLD JDK [${java.version}] in use. Jetty documentation ${project.version} MUST use JDK 21 or newer</message>
+              <version>[17,)</version>
+              <message>[ERROR] OLD JDK [${java.version}] in use. Jetty documentation ${project.version} MUST use JDK 17 or newer</message>
             </requireJavaVersion>
           </rules>
         </configuration>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index eb9f937ffb5d..b2d0d4567490 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -2216,8 +2216,8 @@
                 <configuration>
                   <rules>
                     <requireJavaVersion>
-                      <version>[21,)</version>
-                      <message>[ERROR] OLD JDK [${java.version}] in use. Jetty Release ${project.version} MUST use JDK 21 or newer</message>
+                      <version>[17,)</version>
+                      <message>[ERROR] OLD JDK [${java.version}] in use. Jetty Release ${project.version} MUST use JDK 17 or newer</message>
                     </requireJavaVersion>
                   </rules>
                 </configuration>
diff --git a/scripts/release-jetty.sh b/scripts/release-jetty.sh
index 0e16b5599721..36af1fdcda97 100755
--- a/scripts/release-jetty.sh
+++ b/scripts/release-jetty.sh
@@ -163,6 +163,11 @@ if proceedyn "Are you sure you want to release using above? (y/N)" n; then
     # This is equivalent to 'mvn release:perform'
     if proceedyn "Build/Deploy from tag $TAG_NAME? (Y/n)" y; then
         mvn clean deploy -Peclipse-release $DEPLOY_OPTS
+        echo "IMPORTANT NOTICE: You will need to build+deploy jetty-documentation on JDK21 to make the documentation sane!"
+        echo "Switch to a new window, make sure you are using JDK21, and run the following command:"
+        echo "$ mvn clean deploy -Peclipse-release $DEPLOY_OPTS -pl :jetty-documentation"
+        if proceedyn "Did you build and deploy jetty-documentation in JDK21? (y/N)" n; then
+        fi
     fi
     if proceedyn "Update working directory for $VER_NEXT? (Y/n)" y; then
         echo "Update VERSION.txt for $VER_NEXT"