diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 7c4311af..e68ddd3a 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ defaultTasks 'build', 'shadowJar', 'proguard'
 allprojects {
     apply plugin: 'java'
     apply plugin: 'license'
-    sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_7
-    targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_7
+    sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
+    targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
 
     license {
         header rootProject.file("brut.j.common/src/templates/apache2.0-header.txt")
@@ -88,11 +88,11 @@ if (!('release' in gradle.startParameter.taskNames)) {
 build.doFirst {
     def javaVersion = System.getProperty("java.version")
 
-    //fail the build if we java 1.5 or 1.6.
-    if (javaVersion.startsWith("1.5") || javaVersion.startsWith("1.6")) {
+    // fail the build if java (1.5/1.6/1.7)
+    if (javaVersion.startsWith("1.5") || javaVersion.startsWith("1.6") || javaVersion.startsWith("1.7")) {
         throw new GradleException("You can fix this problem!\n" +
                 "We found a " + javaVersion + " JDK\n" +
-                "Please update JAVA_HOME to use at least a 1.7 JDK\n" +
+                "Please update JAVA_HOME to use at least a 1.8 JDK\n" +
                 "Currently it is set to: " + System.getProperty("java.home")
         );
     }