diff --git a/.github/scripts/install.sh b/.github/scripts/install.sh
index ab8e95c18c5..2902cc90d54 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/install.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/install.sh
@@ -31,6 +31,9 @@ if [ "$USE_CONDA" = "true" ]; then
 
     # To check our manifest and coverage
     mamba install check-manifest codecov -c conda-forge -q -y
+
+    # Install IPython 8
+    mamba install -c conda-forge ipython=8
 else
     # Update pip and setuptools
     python -m pip install -U pip setuptools wheel build
@@ -52,6 +55,9 @@ else
         pip uninstall pyqt5 pyqt5-qt5 pyqt5-sip pyqtwebengine pyqtwebengine-qt5 -q -y
         pip install pyqt5==5.12.* pyqtwebengine==5.12.*
     fi
+
+    # Install IPython 8
+    pip install ipython==8.7.0
 fi
 
 # Install subrepos from source
diff --git a/binder/environment.yml b/binder/environment.yml
index eed025eea5f..9852a979f7e 100644
--- a/binder/environment.yml
+++ b/binder/environment.yml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ dependencies:
 - cookiecutter >=1.6.0
 - diff-match-patch >=20181111
 - intervaltree >=3.0.2
-- ipython >=7.31.1,<8.0.0
+- ipython >=7.31.1,<9.0.0
 - jedi >=0.17.2,<0.19.0
 - jellyfish >=0.7
 - jsonschema >=3.2.0
diff --git a/requirements/main.yml b/requirements/main.yml
index 66680c340f7..33f39fbf2af 100644
--- a/requirements/main.yml
+++ b/requirements/main.yml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ dependencies:
   - cookiecutter >=1.6.0
   - diff-match-patch >=20181111
   - intervaltree >=3.0.2
-  - ipython >=7.31.1,<8.0.0
+  - ipython >=7.31.1,<9.0.0
   - jedi >=0.17.2,<0.19.0
   - jellyfish >=0.7
   - jsonschema >=3.2.0
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index afb89d6d2b2..19f1c1a6cf5 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ def run(self):
     'cookiecutter>=1.6.0',
     'diff-match-patch>=20181111',
     'intervaltree>=3.0.2',
-    'ipython>=7.31.1,<8.0.0',
+    'ipython>=7.31.1,<9.0.0',
     'jedi>=0.17.2,<0.19.0',
     'jellyfish>=0.7',
     'jsonschema>=3.2.0',
diff --git a/spyder/dependencies.py b/spyder/dependencies.py
index 927d568aa2b..d15754ba004 100644
--- a/spyder/dependencies.py
+++ b/spyder/dependencies.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 # None for pynsist install for now
 # (check way to add dist.info/egg.info from packages without wheels available)
 INTERVALTREE_REQVER = None if is_pynsist() else '>=3.0.2'
-IPYTHON_REQVER = ">=7.31.1;<8.0.0"
+IPYTHON_REQVER = ">=7.31.1;<9.0.0"
 JEDI_REQVER = '>=0.17.2;<0.19.0'
 JELLYFISH_REQVER = '>=0.7'
 JSONSCHEMA_REQVER = '>=3.2.0'
diff --git a/spyder/plugins/pythonpath/widgets/pathmanager.py b/spyder/plugins/pythonpath/widgets/pathmanager.py
index 18af9f3fb43..3422d2963b4 100644
--- a/spyder/plugins/pythonpath/widgets/pathmanager.py
+++ b/spyder/plugins/pythonpath/widgets/pathmanager.py
@@ -559,7 +559,7 @@ def _update_system_path(self):
         Request to update path values on main window if current and previous
         system paths are different.
         """
-        if self.system_path != self.get_conf('system_path'):
+        if self.system_path != self.get_conf('system_path', default=()):
             self.sig_path_changed.emit(self.get_path_dict())
         self.set_conf('system_path', self.system_path)