diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_library.yml b/.github/workflows/build_library.yml
index dd85b99c0e7..465a6305812 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_library.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_library.yml
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
-          python-version: 3.8
+          python-version: 3.9
 
       - name: Build Wheel
         run: |
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
-          python-version: 3.8
+          python-version: 3.9
 
       - name: Build sdist
         run: python setup.py sdist --format=zip
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 702b228536c..0027a561736 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
-          python-version: 3.8
+          python-version: 3.9
 
       - name: Install Rust Toolchain
         run: rustup toolchain install stable --profile minimal --component clippy rustfmt rust-docs --no-self-update
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        python-version: [3.8]
+        python-version: [3.9]
 
     # Skip redundant checks for binary releases
     if: "!startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/heads/release/')"
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
-          python-version: 3.8
+          python-version: 3.9
 
       - run: make test-integration
         env:
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           workdir: sentry
           cache-files-hash: ${{ hashFiles('sentry/requirements**.txt') }}
-          python-version: 3.8
+          python-version: 3.9
           snuba: true
           kafka: true
           symbolicator: true
diff --git a/.python-version b/.python-version
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..43077b24609
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.python-version
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+3.9.18
diff --git a/py/CHANGELOG.md b/py/CHANGELOG.md
index 6e601445fe0..2c8cc8aab94 100644
--- a/py/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/py/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## Unreleased
+
+This release requires Python 3.9 or later. There are no intentionally breaking changes included in this release, but we stopped testing against Python 3.8.
+
 ## 0.8.39
 
 - Add `_metrics_summary` as temporary key on `Event` for a DDM experiment. ([#2757](https://github.com/getsentry/relay/pull/2757))
diff --git a/py/setup.py b/py/setup.py
index 962712cc646..45306227c4e 100644
--- a/py/setup.py
+++ b/py/setup.py
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ def find_dylib():
     package_data={"sentry_relay": ["py.typed", "_lowlevel.pyi"]},
     zip_safe=False,
     platforms="any",
-    python_requires=">=3.8",
+    python_requires=">=3.9",
     install_requires=["milksnake>=0.1.6"],
     setup_requires=["milksnake>=0.1.6"],
     milksnake_tasks=[build_native],