diff --git a/package/systemd/Config.in b/package/systemd/Config.in
index 113a8093c4..345f08590e 100644
--- a/package/systemd/Config.in
+++ b/package/systemd/Config.in
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ menuconfig BR2_PACKAGE_SYSTEMD
 	depends on BR2_TOOLCHAIN_USES_GLIBC
 	depends on BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_SSP
 	depends on BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HEADERS_AT_LEAST_3_15
-	depends on BR2_TOOLCHAIN_GCC_AT_LEAST_5
-	depends on BR2_HOST_GCC_AT_LEAST_5 # host-systemd
+	depends on BR2_TOOLCHAIN_GCC_AT_LEAST_8
+	depends on BR2_HOST_GCC_AT_LEAST_8 # host-systemd
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_UDEV
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_DBUS if !BR2_PACKAGE_DBUS_BROKER # runtime
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBCAP
diff --git a/package/systemd/Config.in.host b/package/systemd/Config.in.host
index 8e00bcf5c1..fdbebaee7a 100644
--- a/package/systemd/Config.in.host
+++ b/package/systemd/Config.in.host
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # Select this if you need host systemd tools (e.g. systemctl)
 config BR2_PACKAGE_HOST_SYSTEMD
 	bool
-	depends on BR2_HOST_GCC_AT_LEAST_5
+	depends on BR2_HOST_GCC_AT_LEAST_8
diff --git a/system/Config.in b/system/Config.in
index bc0c6eb6bc..318c538ef1 100644
--- a/system/Config.in
+++ b/system/Config.in
@@ -126,20 +126,20 @@ config BR2_INIT_SYSTEMD
 	depends on BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_SSP
 	depends on BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_THREADS
 	depends on BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HEADERS_AT_LEAST_3_15
-	depends on BR2_TOOLCHAIN_GCC_AT_LEAST_5
-	depends on BR2_HOST_GCC_AT_LEAST_5
+	depends on BR2_TOOLCHAIN_GCC_AT_LEAST_8
+	depends on BR2_HOST_GCC_AT_LEAST_8
 	select BR2_ROOTFS_MERGED_USR
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_SYSTEMD
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_SKELETON_INIT_SYSTEMD if BR2_ROOTFS_SKELETON_DEFAULT
 
-comment "systemd needs a glibc toolchain w/ SSP, headers >= 3.15, host and target gcc >= 5"
+comment "systemd needs a glibc toolchain w/ SSP, headers >= 3.15, host and target gcc >= 8"
 	depends on BR2_PACKAGE_SYSTEMD_ARCH_SUPPORTS
 	depends on BR2_USE_MMU
 	depends on !BR2_TOOLCHAIN_USES_GLIBC || \
 		!BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_SSP || \
 		!BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HEADERS_AT_LEAST_3_15 || \
-		!BR2_TOOLCHAIN_GCC_AT_LEAST_5 || \
-		!BR2_HOST_GCC_AT_LEAST_5
+		!BR2_TOOLCHAIN_GCC_AT_LEAST_8 || \
+		!BR2_HOST_GCC_AT_LEAST_8
 
 comment "systemd highly recommends Linux >= 4.15"
 	depends on BR2_INIT_SYSTEMD