diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 8ea4cc48..8e6cead2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -27,10 +27,11 @@ jobs:
     steps:
     - name: Checkout capa
       uses: actions/checkout@ac593985615ec2ede58e132d2e21d2b1cbd6127c # v3.3.0
-    - name: Set up Python 3.8
+    # use latest available python to take advantage of best performance
+    - name: Set up Python 3.11
       uses: actions/setup-python@d27e3f3d7c64b4bbf8e4abfb9b63b83e846e0435 # v4.5.0
       with:
-        python-version: "3.8"
+        python-version: "3.11"
     - name: Install dependencies
       run: pip install -e .[dev]
     - name: Lint with ruff
@@ -51,10 +52,10 @@ jobs:
       uses: actions/checkout@ac593985615ec2ede58e132d2e21d2b1cbd6127c # v3.3.0
       with:
         submodules: recursive
-    - name: Set up Python 3.8
+    - name: Set up Python 3.11
       uses: actions/setup-python@d27e3f3d7c64b4bbf8e4abfb9b63b83e846e0435 # v4.5.0
       with:
-        python-version: "3.8"
+        python-version: "3.11"
     - name: Install capa
       run: pip install -e .[dev]
     - name: Run rule linter