diff --git a/etc/settings.cfg.sh b/etc/settings.cfg.sh
index 33d2340..e6937de 100644
--- a/etc/settings.cfg.sh
+++ b/etc/settings.cfg.sh
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 #
 
 # scipipe-conda-env reference
-LSST_SPLENV_REF=${LSST_SPLENV_REF:-7.0.1}
+LSST_SPLENV_REF=${LSST_SPLENV_REF:-8.0.0}
 SPLENV_BASE_NAME="lsst-scipipe"
 LSST_SPLENV_REPO=${LSST_SPLENV_REPO:-https://github.com/lsst/scipipe_conda_env.git}