diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-suite.yml b/.github/workflows/test-suite.yml
index ce3df5db81..bf8d788369 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-suite.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-suite.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ jobs:
 
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: ["3.8", "3.9", "3.10", "3.11", "3.12"]
+        python-version: ["3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13"]
 
     steps:
       - uses: "actions/checkout@v4"
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4e2afe2e62..94ebae0afc 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,15 +6,17 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 
 ## 0.28.0 (...)
 
+TODO... writeup `truststore` switch & 3.10+ requirement.
+
 The 0.28 release includes a limited set of backwards incompatible changes.
 
 **Backwards incompatible changes**:
 
 SSL configuration has been significantly simplified.
 
-* The `verify` argument no longer accepts string arguments.
-* The `cert` argument has now been removed.
-* The `SSL_CERT_FILE` and `SSL_CERT_DIR` environment variables are no longer automatically used.
+* The `verify` argument no longer accepts string arguments. Explicitly specified certificate stores can still be enabled through the SSL configuration API.
+* The `cert` argument has now been removed. Client side certificates can still be enabled through the SSL configuration API.
+* The `SSL_CERT_FILE` and `SSL_CERT_DIR` environment variables are no longer used. These environment variables can be enabled manually although should be obsoleted by our switch to `truststore`.
 
 For users of the standard `verify=True` or `verify=False` cases this should require no changes.
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 23992d9c24..b2709c322b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ Or, to include the optional HTTP/2 support, use:
 $ pip install httpx[http2]
 ```
 
-HTTPX requires Python 3.8+.
+HTTPX requires Python 3.10+.
 
 ## Documentation
 
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ The HTTPX project relies on these excellent libraries:
 
 * `httpcore` - The underlying transport implementation for `httpx`.
   * `h11` - HTTP/1.1 support.
-* `certifi` - SSL certificates.
+* `truststore` - System SSL certificates.
 * `idna` - Internationalized domain name support.
 * `sniffio` - Async library autodetection.
 
diff --git a/docs/advanced/ssl.md b/docs/advanced/ssl.md
index da40ed2843..3acddc7b40 100644
--- a/docs/advanced/ssl.md
+++ b/docs/advanced/ssl.md
@@ -1,26 +1,28 @@
-When making a request over HTTPS, HTTPX needs to verify the identity of the requested host. To do this, it uses a bundle of SSL certificates (a.k.a. CA bundle) delivered by a trusted certificate authority (CA).
+When making a request over HTTPS we need to verify the identity of the requested host. We rely on the [`truststore`](https://truststore.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) package to load the system certificates, ensuring that `httpx` has the same behaviour on SSL sites as your browser.
 
-### Enabling and disabling verification
+### SSL verification
 
 By default httpx will verify HTTPS connections, and raise an error for invalid SSL cases...
 
-```pycon
+```python
 >>> httpx.get("https://expired.badssl.com/")
 httpx.ConnectError: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed: certificate has expired (_ssl.c:997)
 ```
 
-You can disable SSL verification completely and allow insecure requests...
+If you're confident that you want to visit a site with an invalid certificate you can disable SSL verification completely...
 
-```pycon
+```python
 >>> httpx.get("https://expired.badssl.com/", verify=False)
 <Response [200 OK]>
 ```
 
-### Configuring client instances
+### Custom SSL configurations
 
-If you're using a `Client()` instance you should pass any `verify=<...>` configuration when instantiating the client.
+If you're using a `Client()` instance you can pass the `verify=<...>` configuration when instantiating the client.
 
-By default the [certifi CA bundle](https://certifiio.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) is used for SSL verification.
+```python
+>>> client = httpx.Client(verify=True)
+```
 
 For more complex configurations you can pass an [SSL Context](https://docs.python.org/3/library/ssl.html) instance...
 
@@ -28,35 +30,13 @@ For more complex configurations you can pass an [SSL Context](https://docs.pytho
 import certifi
 import httpx
 import ssl
+import certifi
 
-# This SSL context is equivelent to the default `verify=True`.
+# Use certifi for certificate validation, rather than the system truststore.
 ctx = ssl.create_default_context(cafile=certifi.where())
 client = httpx.Client(verify=ctx)
 ```
 
-Using [the `truststore` package](https://truststore.readthedocs.io/) to support system certificate stores...
-
-```python
-import ssl
-import truststore
-import httpx
-
-# Use system certificate stores.
-ctx = truststore.SSLContext(ssl.PROTOCOL_TLS_CLIENT)
-client = httpx.Client(verify=ctx)
-```
-
-Loding an alternative certificate verification store using [the standard SSL context API](https://docs.python.org/3/library/ssl.html)...
-
-```python
-import httpx
-import ssl
-
-# Use an explicitly configured certificate store.
-ctx = ssl.create_default_context(cafile="path/to/certs.pem")  # Either cafile or capath.
-client = httpx.Client(verify=ctx)
-```
-
 ### Client side certificates
 
 Client side certificates allow a remote server to verify the client. They tend to be used within private organizations to authenticate requests to remote servers.
@@ -71,9 +51,9 @@ client = httpx.Client(verify=ctx)
 
 ### Working with `SSL_CERT_FILE` and `SSL_CERT_DIR`
 
-Unlike `requests`, the `httpx` package does not automatically pull in [the environment variables `SSL_CERT_FILE` or `SSL_CERT_DIR`](https://www.openssl.org/docs/manmaster/man3/SSL_CTX_set_default_verify_paths.html). If you want to use these they need to be enabled explicitly.
+Unlike `requests`, the `httpx` package does not automatically pull in [the environment variables `SSL_CERT_FILE` or `SSL_CERT_DIR`](https://www.openssl.org/docs/manmaster/man3/SSL_CTX_set_default_verify_paths.html). 
 
-For example...
+These environment variables shouldn't be necessary since they're obsoleted by `truststore`. They can be enabled if required like so...
 
 ```python
 # Use `SSL_CERT_FILE` or `SSL_CERT_DIR` if configured.
@@ -87,7 +67,7 @@ client = httpx.Client(verify=ctx)
 
 ### Making HTTPS requests to a local server
 
-When making requests to local servers, such as a development server running on `localhost`, you will typically be using unencrypted HTTP connections.
+When making requests to local servers such as a development server running on `localhost`, you will typically be using unencrypted HTTP connections.
 
 If you do need to make HTTPS connections to a local server, for example to test an HTTPS-only service, you will need to create and use your own certificates. Here's one way to do it...
 
diff --git a/httpx/_config.py b/httpx/_config.py
index 9318de3c13..590a27a297 100644
--- a/httpx/_config.py
+++ b/httpx/_config.py
@@ -22,10 +22,10 @@ class UnsetType:
 def create_ssl_context(verify: ssl.SSLContext | bool = True) -> ssl.SSLContext:
     import ssl
 
-    import certifi
+    import truststore
 
     if verify is True:
-        return ssl.create_default_context(cafile=certifi.where())
+        return truststore.SSLContext(ssl.PROTOCOL_TLS_CLIENT)
     elif verify is False:
         ssl_context = ssl.SSLContext(ssl.PROTOCOL_TLS_CLIENT)
         ssl_context.check_hostname = False
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 9e67191135..46c147caa9 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ classifiers = [
     "Topic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTP",
 ]
 dependencies = [
-    "certifi",
+    "truststore==0.10.0",
     "httpcore==1.*",
     "anyio",
     "idna",
diff --git a/tests/test_config.py b/tests/test_config.py
index 22abd4c22c..d4e67cec35 100644
--- a/tests/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/test_config.py
@@ -1,8 +1,5 @@
 import ssl
-import typing
-from pathlib import Path
 
-import certifi
 import pytest
 
 import httpx
@@ -20,26 +17,6 @@ def test_load_ssl_config_verify_non_existing_file():
         context.load_verify_locations(cafile="/path/to/nowhere")
 
 
-def test_load_ssl_with_keylog(monkeypatch: typing.Any) -> None:
-    monkeypatch.setenv("SSLKEYLOGFILE", "test")
-    context = httpx.create_ssl_context()
-    assert context.keylog_filename == "test"
-
-
-def test_load_ssl_config_verify_existing_file():
-    context = httpx.create_ssl_context()
-    context.load_verify_locations(capath=certifi.where())
-    assert context.verify_mode == ssl.VerifyMode.CERT_REQUIRED
-    assert context.check_hostname is True
-
-
-def test_load_ssl_config_verify_directory():
-    context = httpx.create_ssl_context()
-    context.load_verify_locations(capath=Path(certifi.where()).parent)
-    assert context.verify_mode == ssl.VerifyMode.CERT_REQUIRED
-    assert context.check_hostname is True
-
-
 def test_load_ssl_config_cert_and_key(cert_pem_file, cert_private_key_file):
     context = httpx.create_ssl_context()
     context.load_cert_chain(cert_pem_file, cert_private_key_file)