diff --git a/hooks/post_gen_project.py b/hooks/post_gen_project.py
index e38d59b415..318c5beb7e 100644
--- a/hooks/post_gen_project.py
+++ b/hooks/post_gen_project.py
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ def remove_utility_files():
 
 
 def remove_heroku_files():
-    file_names = ["Procfile", "runtime.txt", "requirements.txt"]
+    file_names = ["Procfile", "requirements.txt"]
     for file_name in file_names:
         if file_name == "requirements.txt" and "{{ cookiecutter.ci_tool }}".lower() == "travis":
             # don't remove the file if we are using travisci but not using heroku
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.github/dependabot.yml b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.github/dependabot.yml
index 4b89735588..4ea47bd280 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.github/dependabot.yml
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ updates:
   # Enable version updates for Python/Pip - Production
   - package-ecosystem: 'pip'
     # Look for a `requirements.txt` in the `root` directory
-    # also 'setup.cfg', 'runtime.txt' and 'requirements/*.txt'
+    # also 'setup.cfg', '.python-version' and 'requirements/*.txt'
     directory: '/'
     # Every weekday
     schedule:
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 6bb555063f..83625e481e 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
-          python-version: '3.12'
+          python-version-file: '.python-version'
 
       {%- if cookiecutter.open_source_license != 'Not open source' %}
       # Consider using pre-commit.ci for open source project
@@ -88,9 +88,9 @@ jobs:
       {%- else %}
 
       - name: Set up Python
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
-          python-version: '3.12'
+          python-version-file: '.python-version'
           cache: pip
           cache-dependency-path: |
             requirements/base.txt
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.gitignore b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.gitignore
index 0bb3221863..1bd36b9290 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.gitignore
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.gitignore
@@ -59,9 +59,6 @@ docs/_build/
 # PyBuilder
 target/
 
-# pyenv
-.python-version
-
 {% if cookiecutter.use_celery == 'y' -%}
 # celery beat schedule file
 celerybeat-schedule
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.python-version b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.python-version
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e4fba21835
--- /dev/null
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/.python-version
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+3.12
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/runtime.txt b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/runtime.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 32905d6e0f..0000000000
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/runtime.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-python-3.12.7