diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index b905928..f6d6f57 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@ env:
 
 matrix:
   include:
-    - jdk: openjdk7
+    - jdk: openjdk8
       env: CODECOV=true
-    - jdk: openjdk7
+    - jdk: openjdk8
       env: CROSSDOCK=true
 #   - jdk: oraclejdk8
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 2c2b6d3..14ec930 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@
         <!-- store method parameter names in the bytecode (java 8+) -->
         <maven.compiler.parameters>true</maven.compiler.parameters>
         <maven.compiler.showWarnings>true</maven.compiler.showWarnings>
-        <maven.compiler.source>1.7</maven.compiler.source>
+        <maven.compiler.source>1.8</maven.compiler.source>
         <maven.compiler.target>${maven.compiler.source}</maven.compiler.target>
         <!-- https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/MCOMPILER-205 -->
         <maven.compiler.useIncrementalCompilation>false</maven.compiler.useIncrementalCompilation>
diff --git a/tchannel-core/src/main/java/com/uber/tchannel/api/SubChannel.java b/tchannel-core/src/main/java/com/uber/tchannel/api/SubChannel.java
index 3bd3089..31da6a3 100644
--- a/tchannel-core/src/main/java/com/uber/tchannel/api/SubChannel.java
+++ b/tchannel-core/src/main/java/com/uber/tchannel/api/SubChannel.java
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ public TFuture<RawResponse> send(
         return send(request, null, 0);
     }
 
-    protected <V extends Response> TFuture<V> sendRequest(
+    protected <V extends @NotNull Response> TFuture<V> sendRequest(
         Request request,
         InetAddress host,
         int port