diff --git a/concurrency-limits-core/build.gradle b/concurrency-limits-core/build.gradle
index b21985ee..7e2949ea 100644
--- a/concurrency-limits-core/build.gradle
+++ b/concurrency-limits-core/build.gradle
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ plugins {
     id 'java'
 }
 
-sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
+java {
+    sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_18
+}
 
 dependencies {
     implementation "org.slf4j:slf4j-api:${slf4jVersion}"
diff --git a/concurrency-limits-grpc/build.gradle b/concurrency-limits-grpc/build.gradle
index 26640bc2..285650b6 100644
--- a/concurrency-limits-grpc/build.gradle
+++ b/concurrency-limits-grpc/build.gradle
@@ -2,14 +2,16 @@ plugins {
     id 'java'
 }
 
-sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
+java {
+    sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_18
+}
 
 dependencies {
     implementation "org.slf4j:slf4j-api:${slf4jVersion}"
     implementation project(":concurrency-limits-core")
 
     compileOnly "io.grpc:grpc-core:${grpcVersion}"
-    
+
     testImplementation project(":concurrency-limits-spectator")
 
     testCompileOnly "junit:junit:${jUnitLegacyVersion}"
diff --git a/concurrency-limits-servlet/build.gradle b/concurrency-limits-servlet/build.gradle
index 370a30fc..debd40d5 100644
--- a/concurrency-limits-servlet/build.gradle
+++ b/concurrency-limits-servlet/build.gradle
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ plugins {
     id 'java'
 }
 
-sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
+java {
+    sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_18
+}
 
 dependencies {
     api project(":concurrency-limits-core")
diff --git a/concurrency-limits-spectator/build.gradle b/concurrency-limits-spectator/build.gradle
index 59a17561..f3298c0d 100644
--- a/concurrency-limits-spectator/build.gradle
+++ b/concurrency-limits-spectator/build.gradle
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ plugins {
     id 'java'
 }
 
-sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
+java {
+    sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_18
+}
 
 dependencies {
     implementation project(":concurrency-limits-core")
diff --git a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
index a80b22ce..a4413138 100644
--- a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
+++ b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 distributionPath=wrapper/dists
-distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-8.6-bin.zip
+distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-8.8-bin.zip
 networkTimeout=10000
 validateDistributionUrl=true
 zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
diff --git a/gradlew.bat b/gradlew.bat
index 6689b85b..7101f8e4 100644
--- a/gradlew.bat
+++ b/gradlew.bat
@@ -43,11 +43,11 @@ set JAVA_EXE=java.exe
 %JAVA_EXE% -version >NUL 2>&1
 if %ERRORLEVEL% equ 0 goto execute
 
-echo.
-echo ERROR: JAVA_HOME is not set and no 'java' command could be found in your PATH.
-echo.
-echo Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
-echo location of your Java installation.
+echo. 1>&2
+echo ERROR: JAVA_HOME is not set and no 'java' command could be found in your PATH. 1>&2
+echo. 1>&2
+echo Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the 1>&2
+echo location of your Java installation. 1>&2
 
 goto fail
 
@@ -57,11 +57,11 @@ set JAVA_EXE=%JAVA_HOME%/bin/java.exe
 
 if exist "%JAVA_EXE%" goto execute
 
-echo.
-echo ERROR: JAVA_HOME is set to an invalid directory: %JAVA_HOME%
-echo.
-echo Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
-echo location of your Java installation.
+echo. 1>&2
+echo ERROR: JAVA_HOME is set to an invalid directory: %JAVA_HOME% 1>&2
+echo. 1>&2
+echo Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the 1>&2
+echo location of your Java installation. 1>&2
 
 goto fail