diff --git a/core/build.gradle.kts b/core/build.gradle.kts
index 56e05bad5a..b59263c165 100644
--- a/core/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/core/build.gradle.kts
@@ -10,7 +10,13 @@ sourceSets {
 }
 
 kotlin {
-    jvmToolchain(11)
+    jvmToolchain(17)
+
+    target {
+        compilations.all {
+            kotlinOptions.jvmTarget = JavaVersion.VERSION_11.majorVersion
+        }
+    }
 }
 java {
     targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_11
diff --git a/desktop/build.gradle.kts b/desktop/build.gradle.kts
index 612b801dea..1eab8f0310 100644
--- a/desktop/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/desktop/build.gradle.kts
@@ -13,7 +13,13 @@ sourceSets {
 }
 
 kotlin {
-    jvmToolchain(11)
+    jvmToolchain(17)
+
+    target {
+        compilations.all {
+            kotlinOptions.jvmTarget = JavaVersion.VERSION_11.majorVersion
+        }
+    }
 }
 java {
     targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_11
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index 89c70526b5..33561ac83d 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -5,3 +5,6 @@ org.gradle.caching=true
 org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx4096m -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=512m
 android.nonTransitiveRClass=false
 android.nonFinalResIds=false
+
+#alternate band-aid for the `jvm target compatibility should be set to the same Java version` problem:
+#kotlin.jvm.target.validation.mode = IGNORE
diff --git a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar
index 7454180f2a..033e24c4cd 100644
Binary files a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar and b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar differ
diff --git a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
index c880c593f1..62f495dfed 100644
--- a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
+++ b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
-#Mon Feb 06 15:51:42 CST 2023
 distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
-distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-8.2-bin.zip
 distributionPath=wrapper/dists
-zipStorePath=wrapper/dists
+distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-8.2-bin.zip
+networkTimeout=10000
+validateDistributionUrl=true
 zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
+zipStorePath=wrapper/dists
diff --git a/gradlew b/gradlew
index 1b6c787337..fcb6fca147 100755
--- a/gradlew
+++ b/gradlew
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
 #       Darwin, MinGW, and NonStop.
 #
 #   (3) This script is generated from the Groovy template
-#       https://github.com/gradle/gradle/blob/master/subprojects/plugins/src/main/resources/org/gradle/api/internal/plugins/unixStartScript.txt
+#       https://github.com/gradle/gradle/blob/HEAD/subprojects/plugins/src/main/resources/org/gradle/api/internal/plugins/unixStartScript.txt
 #       within the Gradle project.
 #
 #       You can find Gradle at https://github.com/gradle/gradle/.
@@ -80,13 +80,10 @@ do
     esac
 done
 
-APP_HOME=$( cd "${APP_HOME:-./}" && pwd -P ) || exit
-
-APP_NAME="Gradle"
+# This is normally unused
+# shellcheck disable=SC2034
 APP_BASE_NAME=${0##*/}
-
-# Add default JVM options here. You can also use JAVA_OPTS and GRADLE_OPTS to pass JVM options to this script.
-DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS='"-Xmx64m" "-Xms64m"'
+APP_HOME=$( cd "${APP_HOME:-./}" && pwd -P ) || exit
 
 # Use the maximum available, or set MAX_FD != -1 to use that value.
 MAX_FD=maximum
@@ -133,22 +130,29 @@ location of your Java installation."
     fi
 else
     JAVACMD=java
-    which java >/dev/null 2>&1 || die "ERROR: JAVA_HOME is not set and no 'java' command could be found in your PATH.
+    if ! command -v java >/dev/null 2>&1
+    then
+        die "ERROR: JAVA_HOME is not set and no 'java' command could be found in your PATH.
 
 Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
 location of your Java installation."
+    fi
 fi
 
 # Increase the maximum file descriptors if we can.
 if ! "$cygwin" && ! "$darwin" && ! "$nonstop" ; then
     case $MAX_FD in #(
       max*)
+        # In POSIX sh, ulimit -H is undefined. That's why the result is checked to see if it worked.
+        # shellcheck disable=SC3045
         MAX_FD=$( ulimit -H -n ) ||
             warn "Could not query maximum file descriptor limit"
     esac
     case $MAX_FD in  #(
       '' | soft) :;; #(
       *)
+        # In POSIX sh, ulimit -n is undefined. That's why the result is checked to see if it worked.
+        # shellcheck disable=SC3045
         ulimit -n "$MAX_FD" ||
             warn "Could not set maximum file descriptor limit to $MAX_FD"
     esac
@@ -193,6 +197,10 @@ if "$cygwin" || "$msys" ; then
     done
 fi
 
+
+# Add default JVM options here. You can also use JAVA_OPTS and GRADLE_OPTS to pass JVM options to this script.
+DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS='"-Xmx64m" "-Xms64m"'
+
 # Collect all arguments for the java command;
 #   * $DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS, $JAVA_OPTS, and $GRADLE_OPTS can contain fragments of
 #     shell script including quotes and variable substitutions, so put them in
@@ -205,6 +213,12 @@ set -- \
         org.gradle.wrapper.GradleWrapperMain \
         "$@"
 
+# Stop when "xargs" is not available.
+if ! command -v xargs >/dev/null 2>&1
+then
+    die "xargs is not available"
+fi
+
 # Use "xargs" to parse quoted args.
 #
 # With -n1 it outputs one arg per line, with the quotes and backslashes removed.
diff --git a/gradlew.bat b/gradlew.bat
index 107acd32c4..93e3f59f13 100644
--- a/gradlew.bat
+++ b/gradlew.bat
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 @rem limitations under the License.
 @rem
 
-@if "%DEBUG%" == "" @echo off
+@if "%DEBUG%"=="" @echo off
 @rem ##########################################################################
 @rem
 @rem  Gradle startup script for Windows
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@
 if "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" setlocal
 
 set DIRNAME=%~dp0
-if "%DIRNAME%" == "" set DIRNAME=.
+if "%DIRNAME%"=="" set DIRNAME=.
+@rem This is normally unused
 set APP_BASE_NAME=%~n0
 set APP_HOME=%DIRNAME%
 
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ if defined JAVA_HOME goto findJavaFromJavaHome
 
 set JAVA_EXE=java.exe
 %JAVA_EXE% -version >NUL 2>&1
-if "%ERRORLEVEL%" == "0" goto execute
+if %ERRORLEVEL% equ 0 goto execute
 
 echo.
 echo ERROR: JAVA_HOME is not set and no 'java' command could be found in your PATH.
@@ -75,13 +76,15 @@ set CLASSPATH=%APP_HOME%\gradle\wrapper\gradle-wrapper.jar
 
 :end
 @rem End local scope for the variables with windows NT shell
-if "%ERRORLEVEL%"=="0" goto mainEnd
+if %ERRORLEVEL% equ 0 goto mainEnd
 
 :fail
 rem Set variable GRADLE_EXIT_CONSOLE if you need the _script_ return code instead of
 rem the _cmd.exe /c_ return code!
-if  not "" == "%GRADLE_EXIT_CONSOLE%" exit 1
-exit /b 1
+set EXIT_CODE=%ERRORLEVEL%
+if %EXIT_CODE% equ 0 set EXIT_CODE=1
+if not ""=="%GRADLE_EXIT_CONSOLE%" exit %EXIT_CODE%
+exit /b %EXIT_CODE%
 
 :mainEnd
 if "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" endlocal
diff --git a/tests/build.gradle.kts b/tests/build.gradle.kts
index 62831771cf..7412860bdb 100644
--- a/tests/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/tests/build.gradle.kts
@@ -15,13 +15,6 @@ tasks {
         }
 
     }
-
-    compileJava {
-        options.encoding = "UTF-8"
-    }
-    compileTestJava {
-        options.encoding = "UTF-8"
-    }
 }
 
 sourceSets {