diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d4268c32..22f4a4cf 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ com.spotify.dbeam.options.JdbcExportPipelineOptions:
 
 #### Input Avro schema file
 
-If provided an input Avro schema file, dbeam will read input schema file and use some of the 
+If provided an input Avro schema file, dbeam will read input schema file and use some 
 properties when an output Avro schema is created.
 
 #### Following fields will be propagated from input into output schema:
@@ -236,8 +236,11 @@ java \
   ...
 ```
 
-## Using as a library
+## Java version
+
+dbeam expects Java runtime version 11 for execution and JDK >=11 for development.
 
+## Using as a library
 
 To include DBeam library in a mvn project add the following dependency in `pom.xml`:
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 1728c455..44ee5524 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@
   </distributionManagement>
 
   <properties>
-    <maven.compiler.release>8</maven.compiler.release>
+    <maven.compiler.release>11</maven.compiler.release>
     <auto-value.version>1.9</auto-value.version>
     <avro.version>1.11.1</avro.version>
     <bouncycastle.version>1.70</bouncycastle.version>