diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index b6b68f3..1944f00 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@
 language: go
 
 go:
-  - "1.9"
-  - "1.10"
+  - "1.12.x"
 
 os:
   - linux
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 008c65b..cd6f592 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ Please see [Coding gh-ost](doc/coding-ghost.md) for a guide to getting started d
 
 [Download latest release here](https://github.com/github/gh-ost/releases/latest)
 
-`gh-ost` is a Go project; it is built with Go `1.9` and above. To build on your own, use either:
+`gh-ost` is a Go project; it is built with Go `1.12` and above. To build on your own, use either:
 - [script/build](https://github.com/github/gh-ost/blob/master/script/build) - this is the same build script used by CI hence the authoritative; artifact is `./bin/gh-ost` binary.
 - [build.sh](https://github.com/github/gh-ost/blob/master/build.sh) for building `tar.gz` artifacts in `/tmp/gh-ost`
 
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index df9ac7d..8b6925d 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -20,9 +20,9 @@ function build {
 
 
 
-  if ! go version | egrep -q 'go(1[.]9|1[.]1[0-9])' ; then
-    echo "go version is too low. Must use 1.9 or above"
-    exit 1
+  if ! go version | egrep -q 'go(1\.1[234])' ; then
+    echo "go version must be 1.12 or above"
+    ok=1
   fi
 
   echo "Building ${osname} binary"