diff --git a/modules/security-aai/pom.xml b/modules/security-aai/pom.xml
index 6ea46dbf8ab..d47cb0b1964 100644
--- a/modules/security-aai/pom.xml
+++ b/modules/security-aai/pom.xml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
   <properties>
     <opencast.basedir>${project.basedir}/../..</opencast.basedir>
     <checkstyle.skip>false</checkstyle.skip>
+    <java.release>8</java.release>
   </properties>
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>