diff --git a/include/pybind11/cast.h b/include/pybind11/cast.h
index 624b8ebac..cd81c5c60 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/cast.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/cast.h
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ public:
         } else {
             handle src_or_index = src;
             // PyPy: 7.3.7's 3.8 does not implement PyLong_*'s __index__ calls.
-#if PY_VERSION_HEX < 0x03080000 || defined(PYPY_VERSION)
+#if defined(PYPY_VERSION)
             object index;
             if (!PYBIND11_LONG_CHECK(src.ptr())) { // So: index_check(src.ptr())
                 index = reinterpret_steal<object>(PyNumber_Index(src.ptr()));
diff --git a/include/pybind11/detail/class.h b/include/pybind11/detail/class.h
index d30621c88..485f7ac63 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/detail/class.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/detail/class.h
@@ -466,19 +466,9 @@ extern "C" inline void pybind11_object_dealloc(PyObject *self) {
 
     type->tp_free(self);
 
-#if PY_VERSION_HEX < 0x03080000
-    // `type->tp_dealloc != pybind11_object_dealloc` means that we're being called
-    // as part of a derived type's dealloc, in which case we're not allowed to decref
-    // the type here. For cross-module compatibility, we shouldn't compare directly
-    // with `pybind11_object_dealloc`, but with the common one stashed in internals.
-    auto pybind11_object_type = (PyTypeObject *) get_internals().instance_base;
-    if (type->tp_dealloc == pybind11_object_type->tp_dealloc)
-        Py_DECREF(type);
-#else
     // This was not needed before Python 3.8 (Python issue 35810)
     // https://github.com/pybind/pybind11/issues/1946
     Py_DECREF(type);
-#endif
 }
 
 std::string error_string();
diff --git a/include/pybind11/detail/internals.h b/include/pybind11/detail/internals.h
index 92a851602..46e3a3731 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/detail/internals.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/detail/internals.h
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ inline void translate_local_exception(std::exception_ptr p) {
 
 inline object get_python_state_dict() {
     object state_dict;
-#if PYBIND11_INTERNALS_VERSION <= 4 || PY_VERSION_HEX < 0x03080000 || defined(PYPY_VERSION)
+#if PYBIND11_INTERNALS_VERSION <= 4 || defined(PYPY_VERSION)
     state_dict = reinterpret_borrow<object>(PyEval_GetBuiltins());
 #else
 #    if PY_VERSION_HEX < 0x03090000
diff --git a/include/pybind11/eval.h b/include/pybind11/eval.h
index bd5f981f5..74d9b96b8 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/eval.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/eval.h
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ PYBIND11_NAMESPACE_BEGIN(PYBIND11_NAMESPACE)
 PYBIND11_NAMESPACE_BEGIN(detail)
 
 inline void ensure_builtins_in_globals(object &global) {
-#if defined(PYPY_VERSION) || PY_VERSION_HEX < 0x03080000
+#if defined(PYPY_VERSION)
     // Running exec and eval adds `builtins` module under `__builtins__` key to
     // globals if not yet present.  Python 3.8 made PyRun_String behave
     // similarly. Let's also do that for older versions, for consistency. This