diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 06efdb86e7..f13e36116c 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -1339,7 +1339,7 @@
         <!-- plugins -->
         <!-- can't upgrade the plugin yet; as there is an issue with 2.22 no longer running all the tests-->
         <maven-surefire-plugin.version>2.21.0</maven-surefire-plugin.version>
-        <maven-compiler-plugin.version>3.7.0</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
+        <maven-compiler-plugin.version>3.8.1</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
         <exec-maven-plugin.version>1.6.0</exec-maven-plugin.version>
         <java.version>1.8</java.version>
         <log4j.version>1.2.17</log4j.version>