diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index abbda8e16b2af0d0312fce5e7b79cc3b8e1d07ae..7adc5a58e8ae9aa414b4e6d2f9b11cff1f67f478 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@
 	</developers>
 
 	<properties>
+		<java-source.version>1.7</java-source.version>
+		<java-target.version>1.8</java-target.version>
 		<commons-io-version>2.4</commons-io-version>
 		<link-rewriter-version>0.4.1-RELEASE</link-rewriter-version>
 		<saxon-version>9.5.1-5</saxon-version> <!-- XXX mind dependency from epubcheck -->
@@ -209,8 +211,8 @@
 					<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
 					<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
 					<configuration>
-						<source>1.7</source>
-						<target>1.7</target>
+						<source>${java-source.version}</source>
+						<target>${java-target.version}</target>
 					</configuration>
 				</plugin>
 				<plugin>
@@ -285,8 +287,8 @@
 				<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
 				<version>2.3.1</version>
 				<configuration>
-					<source>1.7</source>
-					<target>1.7</target>
+					<source>${java-source.version}</source>
+					<target>${java-target.version}</target>
 				</configuration>
 			</plugin>
 			<plugin>