diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 27f5f59a10..86da9bab08 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ What you'll need
  - About 15 minutes
  - A favorite text editor or IDE
  - [JDK 6][jdk] or later
- - [Gradle 1.7+][gradle] or [Maven 3.0+][mvn]
+ - [Gradle 1.8+][gradle] or [Maven 3.0+][mvn]
  - You can also import the code from this guide as well as view the web page directly into [Spring Tool Suite (STS)][gs-sts] and work your way through it from there.
 
 [jdk]: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ dependencies {
 }
 
 task wrapper(type: Wrapper) {
-    gradleVersion = '1.7'
+    gradleVersion = '1.8'
 }
 ```
     
diff --git a/complete/build.gradle b/complete/build.gradle
index c7d68af056..3cce05eb13 100644
--- a/complete/build.gradle
+++ b/complete/build.gradle
@@ -30,5 +30,5 @@ dependencies {
 }
 
 task wrapper(type: Wrapper) {
-    gradleVersion = '1.7'
+    gradleVersion = '1.8'
 }
diff --git a/initial/build.gradle b/initial/build.gradle
index 897793c78e..cea119c85e 100644
--- a/initial/build.gradle
+++ b/initial/build.gradle
@@ -26,5 +26,5 @@ dependencies {
 }
 
 task wrapper(type: Wrapper) {
-    gradleVersion = '1.7'
+    gradleVersion = '1.8'
 }