diff --git a/.expeditor/verify.pipeline.yml b/.expeditor/verify.pipeline.yml
index 645ca0a..7f64a0f 100644
--- a/.expeditor/verify.pipeline.yml
+++ b/.expeditor/verify.pipeline.yml
@@ -6,14 +6,6 @@ expeditor:
 
 steps:
 
-- label: run-lint-and-specs-ruby-2.6
-  command:
-    - .expeditor/run_linux_tests.sh rake spec pedant style
-  expeditor:
-    executor:
-      docker:
-        image: ruby:2.6
-
 - label: run-lint-and-specs-ruby-2.7
   command:
     - .expeditor/run_linux_tests.sh rake spec pedant style
diff --git a/chef-zero.gemspec b/chef-zero.gemspec
index 306f580..21a4b8a 100644
--- a/chef-zero.gemspec
+++ b/chef-zero.gemspec
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.homepage = "https://github.com/chef/chef-zero"
   s.license = "Apache-2.0"
 
-  s.required_ruby_version = ">= 2.6"
+  s.required_ruby_version = ">= 2.7"
 
   s.add_dependency "activesupport","~> 6.1"  #pin until we support ruby 2.6
   s.add_dependency "mixlib-log", ">= 2.0", "< 4.0"