diff --git a/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml b/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
index 24b06f98..2e08ea6f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ jobs:
           - {os: ubuntu-20.04,   r: 'devel',   rspm: "https://packagemanager.rstudio.com/cran/__linux__/focal/latest"}
           - {os: ubuntu-18.04,   r: 'oldrel',  rspm: "https://packagemanager.rstudio.com/cran/__linux__/bionic/latest"}
           - {os: ubuntu-18.04,   r: '3.6',     rspm: "https://packagemanager.rstudio.com/cran/__linux__/bionic/latest"}
-          - {os: ubuntu-18.04,   r: '3.5',     rspm: "https://packagemanager.rstudio.com/cran/__linux__/bionic/latest"}
 
     env:
       R_REMOTES_NO_ERRORS_FROM_WARNINGS: true
diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 79b569cf..b3cfad00 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ License: MIT + file LICENSE
 URL: https://nflreadr.nflverse.com, https://github.com/nflverse/nflreadr
 BugReports: https://github.com/nflverse/nflreadr/issues
 Depends:
-    R (>= 3.5.0)
+    R (>= 3.6.0)
 Imports:
     cachem (>= 1.0.0),
     cli (>= 3.0.0),
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 33e36033..1383573d 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 ## New Functions
 
 - `nflverse_sitrep()` and `ffverse_sitrep()` give a minimal overview of the package dependencies (v1.1.1.01)
+- Minimum R version bumped to R 3.6.0 - this is the minimum version required to read the [current RDS file-version](https://stat.ethz.ch/R-manual/R-devel/library/base/html/readRDS.html). 
 - `_sitrep()` fns receive a small print-related bugfix (v1.1.1.02)
 
 ---