diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 212990d..544c93c 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@
         <gitHubRepo>jenkinsci/docker-fixtures</gitHubRepo>
         <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
         <spotbugs.failOnError>false</spotbugs.failOnError> <!-- TODO -->
+        <maven.compiler.release>8</maven.compiler.release> <!-- TODO until dropping Java 8 support in consuming plugins -->
     </properties>
     <dependencies>
         <dependency>