diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 1ed7c94..3f180a5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: ['3.8', '3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13']
+        python-version: ['3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13']
     env:
       CC: "gcc"
       CFLAGS: "-O2 -fno-plt"
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: ['3.8', '3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13']
+        python-version: ['3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13']
         target: [
           {
             platform: 'linux/arm64',
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: windows-latest
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: ['3.8', '3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13']
+        python-version: ['3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13']
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - run: rustup install --profile minimal ${{ env.RUST_TOOLCHAIN }}
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ jobs:
     name: Build macOS universal wheel
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: ['3.8', '3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13']
+        python-version: ['3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13']
     runs-on: macos-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
-          python-version: 3.8
+          python-version: 3.11
       - run: python -m pip install -U pip wheel maturin
       - run: pip install -r requirements.txt
       - run: maturin sdist
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 6e87441..6037b2d 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [project]
 name = "ormsgpack"
 repository = "https://github.com/aviramha/ormsgpack"
-requires-python = ">=3.8"
+requires-python = ">=3.9"
 classifiers = [
     "Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable",
     "Intended Audience :: Developers",
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ classifiers = [
     "Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows",
     "Operating System :: POSIX :: Linux",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
-    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11",
@@ -41,7 +40,7 @@ ignore_missing_imports = true
 
 [tool.ruff]
 line-length = 88
-target-version = "py38"
+target-version = "py39"
 
 [tool.ruff.lint]
 select = [
diff --git a/tests/requirements.txt b/tests/requirements.txt
index eed9930..f8df852 100644
--- a/tests/requirements.txt
+++ b/tests/requirements.txt
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ numpy;platform_machine!="armv7l"
 pendulum;platform_machine!="armv7l" and python_version<"3.13"
 pytest
 pytz
-xxhash==1.4.3;sys_platform!="windows" and python_version<"3.9" # creates non-compact ASCII for test_str_ascii
 msgpack
 pydantic
 tzdata
diff --git a/tests/test_datetime.py b/tests/test_datetime.py
index 9977087..79407f2 100644
--- a/tests/test_datetime.py
+++ b/tests/test_datetime.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: (Apache-2.0 OR MIT)
 
 import datetime
-import sys
+import zoneinfo
 from typing import Callable
 
 import msgpack
@@ -21,15 +21,6 @@
     pendulum_timezone = pendulum.timezone
     pendulum_UTC = pendulum.UTC
 
-if sys.version_info >= (3, 9):
-    import zoneinfo
-
-    ZoneInfo = zoneinfo.ZoneInfo
-    ZoneInfoUTC = zoneinfo.ZoneInfo("UTC")
-else:
-    ZoneInfo = None
-    ZoneInfoUTC = None
-
 
 TIMEZONE_PARAMS = (
     pytest.param(
@@ -42,11 +33,7 @@
     ),
     pytest.param(pytz.timezone, id="pytz"),
     pytest.param(get_zonefile_instance().get, id="dateutil"),
-    pytest.param(
-        ZoneInfo,
-        id="zoneinfo",
-        marks=pytest.mark.skipif(ZoneInfo is None, reason="zoneinfo not available"),
-    ),
+    pytest.param(zoneinfo.ZoneInfo, id="zoneinfo"),
 )
 
 
@@ -133,11 +120,7 @@ def test_datetime_tz_assume() -> None:
         ),
         pytest.param(pytz.UTC, id="pytz"),
         pytest.param(tz.UTC, id="dateutil"),
-        pytest.param(
-            ZoneInfoUTC,
-            id="zoneinfo",
-            marks=pytest.mark.skipif(ZoneInfo is None, reason="zoneinfo not available"),
-        ),
+        pytest.param(zoneinfo.ZoneInfo("UTC"), id="zoneinfo"),
     ),
 )
 def test_datetime_utc(timezone: datetime.tzinfo) -> None:
diff --git a/tests/test_str.py b/tests/test_str.py
index 9606532..c151275 100644
--- a/tests/test_str.py
+++ b/tests/test_str.py
@@ -42,13 +42,3 @@ def test_str_surrogates() -> None:
         ormsgpack.packb("\udc00")
     with pytest.raises(ormsgpack.MsgpackEncodeError):
         ormsgpack.packb("\ud83d\ude80")
-
-
-def test_str_ascii() -> None:
-    """
-    str is ASCII but not compact
-    """
-    xxhash = pytest.importorskip("xxhash")
-    digest = xxhash.xxh32_hexdigest("12345")
-    for _ in range(2):
-        assert ormsgpack.unpackb(ormsgpack.packb(digest)) == "b30d56b4"