diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index 0c13ade820..b52780dae3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ on:
     branches:
     - master
     - "3.0"
-    - "2.19"
     paths-ignore:
     - "README.md"
     - "release-notes/*"
@@ -12,7 +11,6 @@ on:
     branches:
     - master
     - "3.0"
-    - "2.19"
     paths-ignore:
     - "README.md"
     - "release-notes/*"
@@ -26,14 +24,14 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        java_version: ['8', '11', '17', '21', '22']
+        java_version: ['17', '21', '22']
         # We will actually need "os" as Matrix to have Windows build
         os: ['ubuntu-22.04']
         include:
-          - java_version: '8'
+          - java_version: '17'
             os: 'ubuntu-22.04'
             release_build: 'R'
-          - java_version: '8'
+          - java_version: '17'
             os: 'windows-latest'
             is_windows: 'W'
     env:
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 641050e7bc..4b2b271281 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -34,13 +34,17 @@
   </scm>
 
   <properties>
+    <!-- [databind#4820]: Java 17 baseline -->
+    <javac.src.version>17</javac.src.version>
+    <javac.target.version>17</javac.target.version>
+
     <!-- Baseline Android SDK compatibility:
 
          * Jackson 3.0 compatible with Android SDK 26 and up
       -->
     <version.android.sdk>26</version.android.sdk>
     <version.android.sdk.signature>0.5.1</version.android.sdk.signature>
-    <version.plugin.animal-sniffer>1.23</version.plugin.animal-sniffer>
+    <version.plugin.animal-sniffer>1.24</version.plugin.animal-sniffer>
 
     <osgi.export>tools.jackson.core;version=${project.version},
 tools.jackson.core.*;version=${project.version}
diff --git a/release-notes/VERSION b/release-notes/VERSION
index 3b4899bba7..bcb9d48e0b 100644
--- a/release-notes/VERSION
+++ b/release-notes/VERSION
@@ -51,3 +51,4 @@ JSON library.
 - Rename `JsonGenerator.Feature.AUTO_CLOSE_JSON_CONTENT` as `AUTO_CLOSE_CONTENT`
 - Add `TreeCodec.nullNode()`, `TreeNode.isNull()` methods
 - Change the way `JsonLocation.NA` is included in exception messages
+- Minimum Java baseline: Java 17