diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 17c9933a2..730339af7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           action: build
           directory: output/full
-          setup-options: -Ddocumentation=disabled -Dtest=true -Dsystemd=enabled -Dpcre=enabled
+          setup-options: -Ddocumentation=disabled -Dtest=true -Dsystemd=enabled -Dpcre=enabled --force-fallback-for=fmt
           options: --verbose
           meson-version: 0.56.0
 
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           action: test
           directory: output/full
-          setup-options: -Ddocumentation=disabled -Dtest=true -Dsystemd=enabled -Dpcre=enabled
+          setup-options: -Ddocumentation=disabled -Dtest=true -Dsystemd=enabled -Dpcre=enabled --force-fallback-for=fmt
           options: --verbose
           meson-version: 0.56.0
 
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           action: build
           directory: output/mini
-          setup-options: -Dbuildtype=minsize -Dauto_features=disabled -Dtest=true -Ddaemon=false -Dinotify=false -Depoll=false -Deventfd=false -Dsignalfd=false -Dtcp=false -Ddsd=false -Ddatabase=false -Dneighbor=false -Dcue=false -Dfifo=false -Dhttpd=false -Dpipe=false -Drecorder=false -Dsnapcast=false
+          setup-options: -Dbuildtype=minsize -Dauto_features=disabled -Dtest=true -Ddaemon=false -Dinotify=false -Depoll=false -Deventfd=false -Dsignalfd=false -Dtcp=false -Ddsd=false -Ddatabase=false -Dneighbor=false -Dcue=false -Dfifo=false -Dhttpd=false -Dpipe=false -Drecorder=false -Dsnapcast=false --force-fallback-for=fmt
           options: --verbose
           meson-version: 0.56.0
 
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index c3aadfef7..e5124c414 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ ver 0.24 (not yet released)
   - remove JACK DLL support
 * remove Haiku support
 * remove Boost dependency
-* require libfmt 7 or later
+* require libfmt 9 or later
 * documentation: switch to sphinx-rtd-theme
 
 ver 0.23.15 (2023/12/20)
diff --git a/src/Log.cxx b/src/Log.cxx
index 590b39df2..b4bbf9bce 100644
--- a/src/Log.cxx
+++ b/src/Log.cxx
@@ -14,11 +14,7 @@ LogVFmt(LogLevel level, const Domain &domain,
 	fmt::string_view format_str, fmt::format_args args) noexcept
 {
 	fmt::memory_buffer buffer;
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 80000
 	fmt::vformat_to(std::back_inserter(buffer), format_str, args);
-#else
-	fmt::vformat_to(buffer, format_str, args);
-#endif
 	Log(level, domain, {buffer.data(), buffer.size()});
 }
 
diff --git a/src/Log.hxx b/src/Log.hxx
index c5dec17ba..713f047d8 100644
--- a/src/Log.hxx
+++ b/src/Log.hxx
@@ -1,15 +1,11 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
 // Copyright The Music Player Daemon Project
 
-#ifndef MPD_LOG_HXX
-#define MPD_LOG_HXX
+#pragma once
 
 #include "LogLevel.hxx"
 
 #include <fmt/core.h>
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 80000 && FMT_VERSION < 90000
-#include <fmt/format.h>
-#endif
 
 #include <exception>
 #include <string_view>
@@ -29,14 +25,8 @@ void
 LogFmt(LogLevel level, const Domain &domain,
        const S &format_str, Args&&... args) noexcept
 {
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 90000
 	return LogVFmt(level, domain, format_str,
 		       fmt::make_format_args(args...));
-#else
-	return LogVFmt(level, domain, fmt::to_string_view(format_str),
-		       fmt::make_args_checked<Args...>(format_str,
-						       args...));
-#endif
 }
 
 template<typename S, typename... Args>
@@ -126,5 +116,3 @@ LogError(const std::exception_ptr &ep, const char *msg) noexcept
 {
 	Log(LogLevel::ERROR, ep, msg);
 }
-
-#endif /* LOG_H */
diff --git a/src/client/Response.cxx b/src/client/Response.cxx
index 169a18a0c..e2db07309 100644
--- a/src/client/Response.cxx
+++ b/src/client/Response.cxx
@@ -28,11 +28,7 @@ bool
 Response::VFmt(fmt::string_view format_str, fmt::format_args args) noexcept
 {
 	fmt::memory_buffer buffer;
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 80000
 	fmt::vformat_to(std::back_inserter(buffer), format_str, args);
-#else
-	fmt::vformat_to(buffer, format_str, args);
-#endif
 	return Write(buffer.data(), buffer.size());
 }
 
diff --git a/src/client/Response.hxx b/src/client/Response.hxx
index 748745954..4b0bad768 100644
--- a/src/client/Response.hxx
+++ b/src/client/Response.hxx
@@ -1,15 +1,11 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
 // Copyright The Music Player Daemon Project
 
-#ifndef MPD_RESPONSE_HXX
-#define MPD_RESPONSE_HXX
+#pragma once
 
 #include "protocol/Ack.hxx"
 
 #include <fmt/core.h>
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 80000 && FMT_VERSION < 90000
-#include <fmt/format.h>
-#endif
 
 #include <cstddef>
 #include <span>
@@ -66,14 +62,8 @@ public:
 
 	template<typename S, typename... Args>
 	bool Fmt(const S &format_str, Args&&... args) noexcept {
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 90000
 		return VFmt(format_str,
 			    fmt::make_format_args(args...));
-#else
-		return VFmt(fmt::to_string_view(format_str),
-			    fmt::make_args_checked<Args...>(format_str,
-							    args...));
-#endif
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -92,15 +82,7 @@ public:
 	template<typename S, typename... Args>
 	void FmtError(enum ack code,
 		      const S &format_str, Args&&... args) noexcept {
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 90000
 		return VFmtError(code, format_str,
 				 fmt::make_format_args(args...));
-#else
-		return VFmtError(code, fmt::to_string_view(format_str),
-				 fmt::make_args_checked<Args...>(format_str,
-								 args...));
-#endif
 	}
 };
-
-#endif
diff --git a/src/io/BufferedOutputStream.cxx b/src/io/BufferedOutputStream.cxx
index 0c706e8b7..bd0ad654e 100644
--- a/src/io/BufferedOutputStream.cxx
+++ b/src/io/BufferedOutputStream.cxx
@@ -52,11 +52,7 @@ BufferedOutputStream::VFmt(fmt::string_view format_str, fmt::format_args args)
 	/* TODO format into this object's buffer instead of allocating
 	   a new one */
 	fmt::memory_buffer b;
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 80000
 	fmt::vformat_to(std::back_inserter(b), format_str, args);
-#else
-	fmt::vformat_to(b, format_str, args);
-#endif
 	return Write(std::as_bytes(std::span{b.data(), b.size()}));
 }
 
diff --git a/src/io/BufferedOutputStream.hxx b/src/io/BufferedOutputStream.hxx
index 73a71c037..fa5fd82c3 100644
--- a/src/io/BufferedOutputStream.hxx
+++ b/src/io/BufferedOutputStream.hxx
@@ -7,9 +7,6 @@
 #include "util/SpanCast.hxx"
 
 #include <fmt/core.h>
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 80000 && FMT_VERSION < 90000
-#include <fmt/format.h>
-#endif
 
 #include <cstddef>
 #include <string_view>
@@ -71,14 +68,8 @@ public:
 
 	template<typename S, typename... Args>
 	void Fmt(const S &format_str, Args&&... args) {
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 90000
 		VFmt(format_str,
 		     fmt::make_format_args(args...));
-#else
-		VFmt(fmt::to_string_view(format_str),
-		     fmt::make_args_checked<Args...>(format_str,
-						     args...));
-#endif
 	}
 
 #ifdef _UNICODE
diff --git a/src/lib/fmt/RuntimeError.hxx b/src/lib/fmt/RuntimeError.hxx
index e2d2bf6de..61623ec38 100644
--- a/src/lib/fmt/RuntimeError.hxx
+++ b/src/lib/fmt/RuntimeError.hxx
@@ -4,9 +4,6 @@
 #pragma once
 
 #include <fmt/core.h>
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 80000 && FMT_VERSION < 90000
-#include <fmt/format.h>
-#endif
 
 #include <stdexcept> // IWYU pragma: export
 
@@ -19,14 +16,8 @@ template<typename S, typename... Args>
 auto
 FmtRuntimeError(const S &format_str, Args&&... args) noexcept
 {
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 90000
 	return VFmtRuntimeError(format_str,
 				fmt::make_format_args(args...));
-#else
-	return VFmtRuntimeError(fmt::to_string_view(format_str),
-				fmt::make_args_checked<Args...>(format_str,
-								args...));
-#endif
 }
 
 [[nodiscard]] [[gnu::pure]]
@@ -38,12 +29,6 @@ template<typename S, typename... Args>
 auto
 FmtInvalidArgument(const S &format_str, Args&&... args) noexcept
 {
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 90000
 	return VFmtInvalidArgument(format_str,
 				fmt::make_format_args(args...));
-#else
-	return VFmtInvalidArgument(fmt::to_string_view(format_str),
-				fmt::make_args_checked<Args...>(format_str,
-								args...));
-#endif
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/fmt/SystemError.hxx b/src/lib/fmt/SystemError.hxx
index a53e26ec2..40636daf3 100644
--- a/src/lib/fmt/SystemError.hxx
+++ b/src/lib/fmt/SystemError.hxx
@@ -6,9 +6,6 @@
 #include "system/Error.hxx" // IWYU pragma: export
 
 #include <fmt/core.h>
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 80000 && FMT_VERSION < 90000
-#include <fmt/format.h>
-#endif
 
 #include <type_traits>
 
@@ -23,14 +20,8 @@ std::system_error
 FmtSystemError(std::error_code code,
 	       const S &format_str, Args&&... args) noexcept
 {
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 90000
 	return VFmtSystemError(code, format_str,
 			       fmt::make_format_args(args...));
-#else
-	return VFmtSystemError(code, fmt::to_string_view(format_str),
-			       fmt::make_args_checked<Args...>(format_str,
-							       args...));
-#endif
 }
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
@@ -46,14 +37,8 @@ std::system_error
 FmtLastError(DWORD code,
 	     const S &format_str, Args&&... args) noexcept
 {
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 90000
 	return VFmtLastError(code, format_str,
 			     fmt::make_format_args(args...));
-#else
-	return VFmtLastError(code, fmt::to_string_view(format_str),
-			     fmt::make_args_checked<Args...>(format_str,
-							     args...));
-#endif
 }
 
 template<typename S, typename... Args>
diff --git a/src/lib/fmt/ToBuffer.hxx b/src/lib/fmt/ToBuffer.hxx
index 563223dda..01f6102f5 100644
--- a/src/lib/fmt/ToBuffer.hxx
+++ b/src/lib/fmt/ToBuffer.hxx
@@ -6,9 +6,6 @@
 #include "util/StringBuffer.hxx"
 
 #include <fmt/core.h>
-#if FMT_VERSION < 90000
-#include <fmt/format.h> // for the fmt::buffer::flush() implementation
-#endif
 
 template<std::size_t size>
 StringBuffer<size> &
@@ -35,14 +32,8 @@ StringBuffer<size> &
 FmtToBuffer(StringBuffer<size> &buffer,
 	    const S &format_str, Args&&... args) noexcept
 {
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 90000
 	return VFmtToBuffer(buffer, format_str,
 			    fmt::make_format_args(args...));
-#else
-	return VFmtToBuffer(buffer, fmt::to_string_view(format_str),
-			    fmt::make_args_checked<Args...>(format_str,
-							    args...));
-#endif
 }
 
 template<std::size_t size, typename S, typename... Args>
@@ -50,12 +41,6 @@ template<std::size_t size, typename S, typename... Args>
 auto
 FmtBuffer(const S &format_str, Args&&... args) noexcept
 {
-#if FMT_VERSION >= 90000
 	return VFmtBuffer<size>(format_str,
 				fmt::make_format_args(args...));
-#else
-	return VFmtBuffer<size>(fmt::to_string_view(format_str),
-				fmt::make_args_checked<Args...>(format_str,
-								args...));
-#endif
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/fmt/meson.build b/src/lib/fmt/meson.build
index 793c296fc..f6b0243ee 100644
--- a/src/lib/fmt/meson.build
+++ b/src/lib/fmt/meson.build
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-libfmt = dependency('fmt', version: '>= 7', fallback: ['fmt', 'fmt_dep'])
+libfmt = dependency('fmt', version: '>= 9', fallback: ['fmt', 'fmt_dep'])
 
 if compiler.get_id() == 'clang' and compiler.version().version_compare('<15')
   libfmt = declare_dependency(