diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 2be68e4c5..e6ad0959a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -3,14 +3,14 @@ name: ci
 on: [push, pull_request]
 
 env:
-  X_PYTHON_VERSION: "3.10"
+  X_PYTHON_VERSION: "3.12"
 
 jobs:
   test:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: ["3.7", "3.9", "3.11"]
+        python-version: ["3.8", "3.10", "3.12"]
     env:
       COUCHDB_ADMIN_PASSWORD: "yo0Quai3"
     services:
diff --git a/basyx/aas/model/submodel.py b/basyx/aas/model/submodel.py
index 6e7cc5022..47e5a2ff5 100644
--- a/basyx/aas/model/submodel.py
+++ b/basyx/aas/model/submodel.py
@@ -779,14 +779,15 @@ def _check_constraints(self, new: _SE, existing: Iterable[_SE]) -> None:
                                                    f"semantic_id, got {new!r} with semantic_id={new.semantic_id!r}")
 
         # If we got here we know that `new` is an instance of type_value_list_element and that type_value_list_element
-        # is either Property or Range. Thus, `new` must have the value_type property. Ignore the type here because
-        # the typechecker doesn't get it.
+        # is either Property or Range. Thus, `new` must have the value_type property.
+        # Furthermore, value_type_list_element cannot be None, as this is already checked in __init__().
+        # Ignore the types here because the typechecker doesn't get it.
         if self.type_value_list_element in (Property, Range) \
                 and new.value_type is not self.value_type_list_element:  # type: ignore
             raise base.AASConstraintViolation(109, "All first level elements must have the value_type "  # type: ignore
                                                    "specified by value_type_list_element="
-                                                   f"{self.value_type_list_element.__name__}, got {new!r} with "
-                                                   f"value_type={new.value_type.__name__}")  # type: ignore
+                                                   f"{self.value_type_list_element.__name__}, got "  # type: ignore
+                                                   f"{new!r} with value_type={new.value_type.__name__}")  # type: ignore
 
         # If semantic_id_list_element is not None that would already enforce the semantic_id for all first level
         # elements. Thus, we only need to perform this check if semantic_id_list_element is None.
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index e2bf0023d..76695d6a3 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
             "aas-compliance-check = basyx.aas.compliance_tool.cli:main"
         ]
     },
-    python_requires='>=3.7',
+    python_requires='>=3.8',
     install_requires=[
         'python-dateutil>=2.8,<3',
         'lxml>=4.2,<5',