diff --git a/.python-version b/.python-version
index eee6392d5c..2739029233 100644
--- a/.python-version
+++ b/.python-version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-3.8.16
+3.9.17
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 6338f6380a..58b9f62e95 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -106,8 +106,8 @@ AC_PATH_TOOL(STRIP, strip)
 AC_PATH_TOOL(GCOV, gcov)
 AC_PATH_TOOL(LLVM_COV, llvm-cov)
 AC_PATH_PROG(LCOV, lcov)
-dnl Python 3.8 is specified in .python-version and should be used if available, see doc/dependencies.md
-AC_PATH_PROGS([PYTHON], [python3.8 python3.9 python3.10 python3.11 python3.12 python3 python])
+dnl The minimum supported version is specified in .python-version and should be used if available, see doc/dependencies.md
+AC_PATH_PROGS([PYTHON], [python3.9 python3.10 python3.11 python3.12 python3 python])
 AC_PATH_PROG(GENHTML, genhtml)
 AC_PATH_PROG([GIT], [git])
 AC_PATH_PROG(CCACHE,ccache)
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/util.py b/test/functional/test_framework/util.py
index 791861c947..e6e38d9dca 100644
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/util.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/util.py
@@ -275,10 +275,10 @@ def sha256sum_file(filename):
             d = f.read(4096)
     return h.digest()
 
-# TODO: Remove and use random.randbytes(n) instead, available in Python 3.9
+# TODO: Remove and use random.randbytes(n) directly
 def random_bytes(n):
     """Return a random bytes object of length n."""
-    return bytes(random.getrandbits(8) for i in range(n))
+    return random.randbytes(n)
 
 # RPC/P2P connection constants and functions
 ############################################