diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 280586d883c..22c897a893e 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ description = "OpenGeoSys Python wheel"
 readme = "README.md"
 license = { file = "LICENSE.txt" }
 authors = [{ email = "info@opengeosys.org" }, { name = "OpenGeoSys Community" }]
-requires-python = ">=3.8"
+requires-python = ">=3.9"
 
 [project.urls]
 homepage = "https://opengeosys.org"
@@ -52,11 +52,8 @@ norecursedirs = ["Tests/Data"]
 
 [tool.cibuildwheel]
 archs = "auto64"
-build = ["cp3{8,9,10,11}-*"]
-skip = [
-  "*musllinux*",
-  "cp38-macosx_x86_64",
-] # otherwise error: 'is not a supported wheel on this platform'archs = "auto64"
+build = ["cp3{9,10,11,12}-*"]
+skip = ["*musllinux*"]
 test-extras = "test"
 test-command = "pytest {project}/Tests/Python"
 build-verbosity = "1"
diff --git a/scripts/cmake/PythonSetup.cmake b/scripts/cmake/PythonSetup.cmake
index ac16984cf94..1c6f02f0abd 100644
--- a/scripts/cmake/PythonSetup.cmake
+++ b/scripts/cmake/PythonSetup.cmake
@@ -1,11 +1,5 @@
 # cmake-lint: disable=C0103
 
-set(_python_version_max "...<3.12")
-if(WIN32 AND NOT OGS_BUILD_WHEEL)
-    # 3.11 crashes at initialization on Windows.
-    set(_python_version_max "...<3.11")
-endif()
-
 if(OGS_USE_PIP)
     set(LOCAL_VIRTUALENV_DIR ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/.venv CACHE INTERNAL "")
     set(Python_ROOT_DIR ${LOCAL_VIRTUALENV_DIR})
@@ -14,7 +8,7 @@ if(OGS_USE_PIP)
         execute_process(
             COMMAND
                 ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -DPROJECT_BINARY_DIR=${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}
-                -Dpython_version=${ogs.minimum_version.python}${_python_version_max}
+                -Dpython_version=${ogs.minimum_version.python}
                 -P
                 ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/scripts/cmake/PythonCreateVirtualEnv.cmake
             WORKING_DIRECTORY ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR} COMMAND_ECHO STDOUT
@@ -71,7 +65,7 @@ if(NOT OGS_BUILD_WHEEL)
 endif()
 
 find_package(
-    Python ${ogs.minimum_version.python}${_python_version_max}
+    Python ${ogs.minimum_version.python}
     COMPONENTS ${_python_componets} REQUIRED
 )
 
@@ -102,6 +96,7 @@ if(OGS_USE_PIP)
         list(APPEND OGS_PYTHON_PACKAGES
              "snakemake==${ogs.minimum_version.snakemake}"
              "pulp==2.7.0" # https://github.com/snakemake/snakemake/issues/2607
+             "setuptools"  # https://github.com/glenfant/stopit/issues/32
         )
         set(SNAKEMAKE ${LOCAL_VIRTUALENV_BIN_DIR}/snakemake CACHE FILEPATH ""
                                                                   FORCE
diff --git a/scripts/snakemake/modules/meshes.smk b/scripts/snakemake/modules/meshes.smk
index 5bd643a268c..4d24e8e02cc 100644
--- a/scripts/snakemake/modules/meshes.smk
+++ b/scripts/snakemake/modules/meshes.smk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 rule generate_square_mesh:
     output:
-        "{mesh_name_prefix,\w+}_{size,\d+}_{lx,\d+}x{ly,\d+}_{type}.vtu"
+        "{mesh_name_prefix,\\w+}_{size,\\d+}_{lx,\\d+}x{ly,\\d+}_{type}.vtu"
     shell:
         """
         generateStructuredMesh -e {wildcards.type} \
diff --git a/web/data/versions.json b/web/data/versions.json
index 4e19cd3ae67..1872df25e07 100644
--- a/web/data/versions.json
+++ b/web/data/versions.json
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@
     "vtk": "9.3.0",
     "petsc": "3.18.6",
     "qt": "5.14.2",
-    "python": "3.6",
-    "snakemake": "7.32.4",
+    "python": "3.9",
+    "snakemake": "8.2.4",
     "hdf5": "1.10.7",
     "libxml2": "2.9.12",
     "tfel-rliv": "4.0",