diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 9382ac49..262a51ca 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ namespace :dev do
       s.require_path = 'lib'
       s.executables = ['kramdown']
       s.required_ruby_version = '>= 2.3'
-      s.add_dependency "rexml"
+      s.add_dependency 'rexml',   '>= 3.2.7'
       s.add_development_dependency 'minitest', '~> 5.0'
       s.add_development_dependency 'rouge', '~> 3.0', '>= 3.26.0'
       s.add_development_dependency 'stringex', '~> 1.5.1'