diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
index 4a755422..759c5d42 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ jobs:
           - {python: '3.11'}
           - {python: '3.10'}
           - {python: '3.9'}
-          - {python: '3.8'}
           - {name: PyPy, python: 'pypy-3.10', tox: pypy310}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@692973e3d937129bcbf40652eb9f2f61becf3332 # v4.1.7
diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 38e73c10..9101c486 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ Version 3.0.0
 
 Unreleased
 
--   Drop support for Python 3.7.
+-   Drop support for Python 3.7 and 3.8.
 -   Use modern packaging metadata with ``pyproject.toml`` instead of ``setup.cfg``.
     :pr:`348`
 -   Change ``distutils`` imports to ``setuptools``. :pr:`399`
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 7ca3426d..a9e0ea11 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ classifiers = [
     "Topic :: Text Processing :: Markup :: HTML",
     "Typing :: Typed",
 ]
-requires-python = ">=3.8"
+requires-python = ">=3.9"
 
 [project.urls]
 Donate = "https://palletsprojects.com/donate"
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ source = ["markupsafe", "tests"]
 source = ["src", "*/site-packages"]
 
 [tool.mypy]
-python_version = "3.8"
+python_version = "3.9"
 files = ["src/markupsafe", "tests"]
 show_error_codes = true
 pretty = true
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ module = [
 ignore_missing_imports = true
 
 [tool.pyright]
-pythonVersion = "3.8"
+pythonVersion = "3.9"
 include = ["src/markupsafe", "tests"]
 typeCheckingMode = "basic"
 
diff --git a/src/markupsafe/__init__.py b/src/markupsafe/__init__.py
index 00cf6b8f..0afddc0c 100644
--- a/src/markupsafe/__init__.py
+++ b/src/markupsafe/__init__.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 import collections.abc as cabc
 import string
-import sys
 import typing as t
 
 try:
@@ -13,11 +12,13 @@
 if t.TYPE_CHECKING:
     import typing_extensions as te
 
-    class HasHTML(te.Protocol):
-        def __html__(self, /) -> str: ...
 
-    class TPEscape(te.Protocol):
-        def __call__(self, s: t.Any, /) -> Markup: ...
+class _HasHTML(t.Protocol):
+    def __html__(self, /) -> str: ...
+
+
+class _TPEscape(t.Protocol):
+    def __call__(self, s: t.Any, /) -> Markup: ...
 
 
 def escape(s: t.Any, /) -> Markup:
@@ -130,13 +131,13 @@ def __new__(
     def __html__(self, /) -> te.Self:
         return self
 
-    def __add__(self, value: str | HasHTML, /) -> te.Self:
+    def __add__(self, value: str | _HasHTML, /) -> te.Self:
         if isinstance(value, str) or hasattr(value, "__html__"):
             return self.__class__(super().__add__(self.escape(value)))
 
         return NotImplemented
 
-    def __radd__(self, value: str | HasHTML, /) -> te.Self:
+    def __radd__(self, value: str | _HasHTML, /) -> te.Self:
         if isinstance(value, str) or hasattr(value, "__html__"):
             return self.escape(value).__add__(self)
 
@@ -164,7 +165,7 @@ def __mod__(self, value: t.Any, /) -> te.Self:
     def __repr__(self, /) -> str:
         return f"{self.__class__.__name__}({super().__repr__()})"
 
-    def join(self, iterable: cabc.Iterable[str | HasHTML], /) -> te.Self:
+    def join(self, iterable: cabc.Iterable[str | _HasHTML], /) -> te.Self:
         return self.__class__(super().join(map(self.escape, iterable)))
 
     def split(  # type: ignore[override]
@@ -291,13 +292,11 @@ def zfill(self, width: t.SupportsIndex, /) -> te.Self:
     def casefold(self, /) -> te.Self:
         return self.__class__(super().casefold())
 
-    if sys.version_info >= (3, 9):
-
-        def removeprefix(self, prefix: str, /) -> te.Self:
-            return self.__class__(super().removeprefix(prefix))
+    def removeprefix(self, prefix: str, /) -> te.Self:
+        return self.__class__(super().removeprefix(prefix))
 
-        def removesuffix(self, suffix: str) -> te.Self:
-            return self.__class__(super().removesuffix(suffix))
+    def removesuffix(self, suffix: str) -> te.Self:
+        return self.__class__(super().removesuffix(suffix))
 
     def partition(self, sep: str, /) -> tuple[te.Self, te.Self, te.Self]:
         left, sep, right = super().partition(sep)
@@ -331,8 +330,8 @@ def __html_format__(self, format_spec: str, /) -> te.Self:
 class EscapeFormatter(string.Formatter):
     __slots__ = ("escape",)
 
-    def __init__(self, escape: TPEscape) -> None:
-        self.escape: TPEscape = escape
+    def __init__(self, escape: _TPEscape) -> None:
+        self.escape: _TPEscape = escape
         super().__init__()
 
     def format_field(self, value: t.Any, format_spec: str) -> str:
@@ -358,9 +357,9 @@ class _MarkupEscapeHelper:
 
     __slots__ = ("obj", "escape")
 
-    def __init__(self, obj: t.Any, escape: TPEscape) -> None:
+    def __init__(self, obj: t.Any, escape: _TPEscape) -> None:
         self.obj: t.Any = obj
-        self.escape: TPEscape = escape
+        self.escape: _TPEscape = escape
 
     def __getitem__(self, key: t.Any, /) -> te.Self:
         return self.__class__(self.obj[key], self.escape)
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 1daab3da..cb3c865c 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tox]
 envlist =
-    py3{13,12,11,10,9,8}
+    py3{13,12,11,10,9}
     pypy310
     style
     typing