diff --git a/doc/developer.rst b/doc/developer.rst
index 1bfb0d131..a534c0ec0 100644
--- a/doc/developer.rst
+++ b/doc/developer.rst
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Code Style
 * indent with tabs (width 8)
 * don't write CPP when you can write C++: use inline functions and constexpr instead of macros
 * comment your code, document your APIs
-* the code should be C++17 compliant, and must compile with :program:`GCC` 7 and :program:`clang` 4
+* the code should be C++17 compliant, and must compile with :program:`GCC` 8 and :program:`clang` 5
 * all code must be exception-safe
 * classes and functions names use CamelCase; variables are lower-case with words separated by underscore
 
diff --git a/doc/user.rst b/doc/user.rst
index 1b64b3fe9..38f33cc90 100644
--- a/doc/user.rst
+++ b/doc/user.rst
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ Download the source tarball from the `MPD home page <https://musicpd.org>`_ and
 
 In any case, you need:
 
-* a C++14 compiler (e.g. GCC 7 or clang 4)
+* a C++14 compiler (e.g. GCC 8 or clang 5)
 * `Meson 0.49.0 <http://mesonbuild.com/>`__ and `Ninja
   <https://ninja-build.org/>`__
 * Boost 1.58
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index e78693ace..085b97bbc 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@ version_cxx = vcs_tag(input: 'src/GitVersion.cxx', output: 'GitVersion.cxx')
 compiler = meson.get_compiler('cpp')
 c_compiler = meson.get_compiler('c')
 
-if compiler.get_id() == 'gcc' and compiler.version().version_compare('<7')
-  warning('Your GCC version is too old.  You need at least version 7.')
-elif compiler.get_id() == 'clang' and compiler.version().version_compare('<4')
-  warning('Your clang version is too old.  You need at least version 4.')
+if compiler.get_id() == 'gcc' and compiler.version().version_compare('<8')
+  warning('Your GCC version is too old.  You need at least version 8.')
+elif compiler.get_id() == 'clang' and compiler.version().version_compare('<5')
+  warning('Your clang version is too old.  You need at least version 5.')
 endif
 
 version_conf = configuration_data()