diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 3bbbc37c..89aa07d7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -11,13 +11,11 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
   test:
-    # change to ubuntu-latest once Ruby 2.5 and JRuby 9.2 is dropped
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        ruby: [2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, '3.0', 3.1, 3.2, jruby-9.1, jruby-9.2, jruby-9.3, jruby-9.4]
-        env: [NEW_RAILS, OLD_RAILS]
+        ruby: [2.7, '3.0', 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, jruby-9.4, jruby-10.0]
 
     steps:
       - name: Setup     
@@ -27,12 +25,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
 
-      - name: Environment 
-        run: echo "${{ matrix.env }}=1" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-
       - name: Install     
         run: |
-          echo NEW_RAIS=$NEW_RAILS OLD_RAILS=$OLD_RAILS   
           bundle install --without docs     
 
       - name: Test 
@@ -42,10 +36,10 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
     steps:
-      - name: Set up Ruby 3.2
+      - name: Set up Ruby 3.4
         uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
         with:
-          ruby-version: 3.2
+          ruby-version: 3.4
 
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
 
diff --git a/.rubocop.yml b/.rubocop.yml
index ccb956f0..be3a6ff9 100644
--- a/.rubocop.yml
+++ b/.rubocop.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ inherit_from: .rubocop_todo.yml
 
 AllCops:
   NewCops: enable
-  TargetRubyVersion: 2.3
+  TargetRubyVersion: 2.7
   Exclude:
     - 'tasks/release/**/*'
 
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6f56129d..0b281898 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 Unreleased Changes
 ------------------
 
+* Feature - Drop Ruby runtime support for 2.5 and 2.6.
+
 2.13.4 (2025-05-21)
 ------------------
 
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index d8e2a412..0ace478d 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -9,16 +9,12 @@ gem 'rake', require: false
 group :test do
   gem 'cucumber'
   gem 'rspec'
-
   gem 'simplecov', require: false
 
-  gem 'rexml' if RUBY_VERSION >= '3.0'
+  gem 'activemodel'
 
-  if ENV['NEW_RAILS']
-    gem 'activemodel'
-  else
-    gem 'activemodel', '< 5.0'
-  end
+  gem 'mutex_m' if RUBY_VERSION >= '3.4'
+  gem 'rexml' if RUBY_VERSION >= '3.0'
 end
 
 group :docs do
diff --git a/aws-record.gemspec b/aws-record.gemspec
index d17110f8..c34cbb84 100644
--- a/aws-record.gemspec
+++ b/aws-record.gemspec
@@ -16,5 +16,5 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   # Require 1.85.0 for user_agent_frameworks config
   spec.add_dependency 'aws-sdk-dynamodb', '~> 1', '>= 1.85.0'
 
-  spec.required_ruby_version = '>= 2.3'
+  spec.required_ruby_version = '>= 2.7'
 end
diff --git a/features/transactions/step_definitions.rb b/features/transactions/step_definitions.rb
index f91333f3..ca38d34a 100644
--- a/features/transactions/step_definitions.rb
+++ b/features/transactions/step_definitions.rb
@@ -29,11 +29,9 @@
 end
 
 When('we run the following code:') do |code|
-  begin
-    @arbitrary_code_ret = eval(code)
-  rescue StandardError => e
-    @arbitrary_code_exception = e
-  end
+  @arbitrary_code_ret = eval(code)
+rescue StandardError => e
+  @arbitrary_code_exception = e
 end
 
 Then('we expect the code to raise an {string} exception') do |exception_class|
diff --git a/lib/aws-record/record/batch_read.rb b/lib/aws-record/record/batch_read.rb
index 8d7177c3..7aa544d3 100644
--- a/lib/aws-record/record/batch_read.rb
+++ b/lib/aws-record/record/batch_read.rb
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def find(klass, key = {})
       # @return [Array] an array of unordered new items
       def execute!
         operation_keys = unprocessed_keys[0..BATCH_GET_ITEM_LIMIT - 1]
-        @unprocessed_keys = unprocessed_keys[BATCH_GET_ITEM_LIMIT..-1] || []
+        @unprocessed_keys = unprocessed_keys[BATCH_GET_ITEM_LIMIT..] || []
 
         operations = build_operations(operation_keys)
         result = @client.batch_get_item(request_items: operations)