diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 6ea3dd6e6..b3674906b 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
   <properties>
 
     <!-- Generic properties -->
-    <java.version>17</java.version>
+    <java.version>19</java.version>
     <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
     <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
 
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 4cd576eac..c717acd59 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 <a href="https://speakerdeck.com/michaelisvy/spring-petclinic-sample-application">See the presentation here</a>
 
 ## Running petclinic locally
-Petclinic is a [Spring Boot](https://spring.io/guides/gs/spring-boot) application built using [Maven](https://spring.io/guides/gs/maven/) or [Gradle](https://spring.io/guides/gs/gradle/). You can build a jar file and run it from the command line (it should work just as well with Java 17 or newer):
+Petclinic is a [Spring Boot](https://spring.io/guides/gs/spring-boot) application built using [Maven](https://spring.io/guides/gs/maven/) or [Gradle](https://spring.io/guides/gs/gradle/). You can build a jar file and run it from the command line (it should work just as well with Java 19 or newer):
 
 
 ```
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ There is a `petclinic.css` in `src/main/resources/static/resources/css`. It was
 
 ### Prerequisites
 The following items should be installed in your system:
-* Java 17 or newer (full JDK, not a JRE).
+* Java 19 or newer (full JDK, not a JRE).
 * [git command line tool](https://help.github.com/articles/set-up-git)
 * Your preferred IDE 
   * Eclipse with the m2e plugin. Note: when m2e is available, there is an m2 icon in `Help -> About` dialog. If m2e is