diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish.yml b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
index 520e0894..002a7095 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@d27e3f3d7c64b4bbf8e4abfb9b63b83e846e0435 # v4.5.0
         with:
-          python-version: '3.7'
+          python-version: '3.8'
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade pip
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 64475f65..b6db661b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         os: [ubuntu-20.04, windows-2019, macos-11]
         # across all operating systems
-        python-version: ["3.7", "3.11"]
+        python-version: ["3.8", "3.11"]
         include:
           # on Ubuntu run these as well
           - os: ubuntu-20.04
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        python-version: ["3.7", "3.11"]
+        python-version: ["3.8", "3.11"]
     steps:
     - name: Checkout capa with submodules
       # do only run if BN_SERIAL is available, have to do this in every step, see https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/26726#discussioncomment-3253118
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2c57b678..ea05b283 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 ### Breaking Changes
 - Update Metadata type in capa main [#1411](https://github.com/mandiant/capa/issues/1411) [@Aayush-Goel-04](https://github.com/aayush-goel-04) @manasghandat
+- Python 3.8 is now the minimum supported Python version #1578 @williballenthin
 
 ### New Rules (21)
 
diff --git a/capa/helpers.py b/capa/helpers.py
index c03e0553..38bd2d56 100644
--- a/capa/helpers.py
+++ b/capa/helpers.py
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ def log_unsupported_runtime_error():
     logger.error("-" * 80)
     logger.error(" Unsupported runtime or Python interpreter.")
     logger.error(" ")
-    logger.error(" capa supports running under Python 3.7 and higher.")
+    logger.error(" capa supports running under Python 3.8 and higher.")
     logger.error(" ")
     logger.error(
         " If you're seeing this message on the command line, please ensure you're running a supported Python version."
diff --git a/capa/ida/plugin/README.md b/capa/ida/plugin/README.md
index 6dd07002..4bf3616c 100644
--- a/capa/ida/plugin/README.md
+++ b/capa/ida/plugin/README.md
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ can update using the `Settings` button.
 
 ### Requirements
 
-capa explorer supports Python versions >= 3.7.x and IDA Pro versions >= 7.4. The following IDA Pro versions have been tested:
+capa explorer supports Python versions >= 3.8.x and IDA Pro versions >= 7.4. The following IDA Pro versions have been tested:
 
 * IDA 7.4
 * IDA 7.5
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ capa explorer supports Python versions >= 3.7.x and IDA Pro versions >= 7.4. The
 * IDA 8.1
 * IDA 8.2
 
-capa explorer is however limited to the Python versions supported by your IDA installation (which may not include all Python versions >= 3.7.x).
+capa explorer is however limited to the Python versions supported by your IDA installation (which may not include all Python versions >= 3.8.x).
 
 If you encounter issues with your specific setup, please open a new [Issue](https://github.com/mandiant/capa/issues).
 
diff --git a/capa/main.py b/capa/main.py
index af52b82d..44a54a91 100644
--- a/capa/main.py
+++ b/capa/main.py
@@ -990,13 +990,6 @@ def handle_common_args(args):
     # disable vivisect-related logging, it's verbose and not relevant for capa users
     set_vivisect_log_level(logging.CRITICAL)
 
-    # Since Python 3.8 cp65001 is an alias to utf_8, but not for Python < 3.8
-    # TODO: remove this code when only supporting Python 3.8+
-    # https://stackoverflow.com/a/3259271/87207
-    import codecs
-
-    codecs.register(lambda name: codecs.lookup("utf-8") if name == "cp65001" else None)
-
     if args.color == "always":
         colorama.init(strip=False)
     elif args.color == "auto":
@@ -1072,8 +1065,8 @@ def handle_common_args(args):
 
 
 def main(argv=None):
-    if sys.version_info < (3, 7):
-        raise UnsupportedRuntimeError("This version of capa can only be used with Python 3.7+")
+    if sys.version_info < (3, 8):
+        raise UnsupportedRuntimeError("This version of capa can only be used with Python 3.8+")
 
     if argv is None:
         argv = sys.argv[1:]
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 4a67c68c..85ce8ec0 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ requirements = [
     "ida-settings==2.1.0",
     "viv-utils[flirt]==0.7.9",
     "halo==0.0.31",
-    "networkx==2.5.1",  # newer versions no longer support py3.7.
+    "networkx==3.1",
     "ruamel.yaml==0.17.32",
     "vivisect==1.1.1",
     "pefile==2023.2.7",
@@ -107,5 +107,5 @@ setuptools.setup(
         "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
         "Topic :: Security",
     ],
-    python_requires=">=3.7",
+    python_requires=">=3.8",
 )