diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 921ff7a910..0405538118 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 language: java
 jdk:
   - oraclejdk7
+  - oraclejdk8
 
 env:
   - HADOOP_PROFILE=default
@@ -9,10 +10,10 @@ cache:
   directories:
     - $HOME/.m2
 
-install: mvn -q install -DskipTests=true -Dmaven.javadoc.skip=true -Dsource.skip=true -DjavaVersion=1.7
+install: mvn -q install -DskipTests=true -Dmaven.javadoc.skip=true -Dsource.skip=true
 before_script: umask 0022
 before_install: echo "127.0.0.1 "`hostname` | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts
-script: mvn test -P $HADOOP_PROFILE -DjavaVersion=1.7
+script: mvn test -P $HADOOP_PROFILE
 
 notifications:
   webhooks:
diff --git a/kite-morphlines/README.md b/kite-morphlines/README.md
index 32c47feeb9..8d5d0edd31 100644
--- a/kite-morphlines/README.md
+++ b/kite-morphlines/README.md
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ cd kite
 #git tag # list available releases
 #git checkout master
 #git checkout release-1.0.0 # or whatever the latest version is
-mvn clean install -DskipTests -DjavaVersion=1.7
+mvn clean install -DskipTests
 cd kite-morphlines
 mvn clean package
 find kite-morphlines-core/target -name '*.jar'
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ log4j.logger.org.kitesdk.morphline=TRACE
 
 ```bash
 cd kite
-mvn eclipse:eclipse -DjavaVersion=1.7
+mvn eclipse:eclipse
 ```
 
 * `mvn eclipse:eclipse` creates several Eclipse projects, one for each maven submodule.
diff --git a/kite-morphlines/kite-morphlines-solr-cell/pom.xml b/kite-morphlines/kite-morphlines-solr-cell/pom.xml
index 47c05fa3f9..bc98545bd8 100644
--- a/kite-morphlines/kite-morphlines-solr-cell/pom.xml
+++ b/kite-morphlines/kite-morphlines-solr-cell/pom.xml
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
         <configuration>
-          <argLine>-Dtests.locale=en_us</argLine>
+          <argLine>-Dtests.locale=en-US</argLine>
           <!--<forkMode>always</forkMode>-->
           <redirectTestOutputToFile>true</redirectTestOutputToFile>
           <systemPropertyVariables>
diff --git a/kite-morphlines/kite-morphlines-solr-core/pom.xml b/kite-morphlines/kite-morphlines-solr-core/pom.xml
index 651ab05888..2e54a63d04 100644
--- a/kite-morphlines/kite-morphlines-solr-core/pom.xml
+++ b/kite-morphlines/kite-morphlines-solr-core/pom.xml
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
         <configuration>
-          <argLine>-Dtests.locale=en_us</argLine>
+          <argLine>-Dtests.locale=en-US</argLine>
           <!--<forkMode>always</forkMode>-->
           <redirectTestOutputToFile>true</redirectTestOutputToFile>
           <systemPropertyVariables>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 7e95ef1e55..493154a7f7 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@
               <version>[3.0.0,)</version>
             </requireMavenVersion>
             <requireJavaVersion>
-              <version>[${javaVersion}.0,${javaVersion}.1000}]</version>
+              <version>[${javaVersion}.0,)</version>
             </requireJavaVersion>
           </rules>
         </configuration>