diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index d79316312a..a4a9e332f2 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@
         <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
 
         <jdk-version>1.8</jdk-version>
+        <jdk-release-version>8</jdk-release-version>
 
         <!-- versions -->
         <zookeeper-version>3.5.4-beta</zookeeper-version>
@@ -668,6 +669,7 @@
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                 <configuration>
+                    <release>${jdk-release-version}</release>
                     <source>${jdk-version}</source>
                     <target>${jdk-version}</target>
                 </configuration>