diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Dates.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Dates.hs
index 44d01bdfc..798c084a3 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Dates.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Dates.hs
@@ -64,11 +64,10 @@ module Hledger.Data.Dates (
 )
 where
 
-#if !MIN_VERSION_base(4,8,0)
-import Control.Applicative.Compat ((<*))
-#endif
+import Prelude ()
+import Prelude.Compat
 import Control.Monad
-import Data.List
+import Data.List.Compat
 import Data.Maybe
 #if MIN_VERSION_time(1,5,0)
 import Data.Time.Format hiding (months)
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/OutputFormat.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/OutputFormat.hs
index ba54049a4..499d60e35 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/OutputFormat.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/OutputFormat.hs
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 {-# LANGUAGE FlexibleContexts #-}
-{-# LANGUAGE CPP #-}
 module Hledger.Data.OutputFormat (
           parseStringFormat
         , formatsp
@@ -9,10 +8,9 @@ module Hledger.Data.OutputFormat (
         , tests
         ) where
 
+import Prelude ()
+import Prelude.Compat
 import Numeric
-#if !MIN_VERSION_base(4,8,0)
-import Control.Applicative.Compat ((<*))
-#endif
 import Data.Char (isPrint)
 import Data.Maybe
 import Test.HUnit
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/CsvReader.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/CsvReader.hs
index 71b703270..59d22b28f 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/CsvReader.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/CsvReader.hs
@@ -20,15 +20,14 @@ module Hledger.Read.CsvReader (
   tests_Hledger_Read_CsvReader
 )
 where
-#if !MIN_VERSION_base(4,8,0)
-import Control.Applicative.Compat ((<$>), (<*))
-#endif
+import Prelude ()
+import Prelude.Compat hiding (getContents)
 import Control.Exception hiding (try)
 import Control.Monad
 import Control.Monad.Except
 -- import Test.HUnit
 import Data.Char (toLower, isDigit, isSpace)
-import Data.List
+import Data.List.Compat
 import Data.Maybe
 import Data.Ord
 import Data.Time.Calendar (Day)
@@ -50,7 +49,6 @@ import Text.Parsec.Error
 import Text.Printf (hPrintf,printf)
 
 import Hledger.Data
-import Prelude hiding (getContents)
 import Hledger.Utils.UTF8IOCompat (getContents)
 import Hledger.Utils
 import Hledger.Read.JournalReader (amountp)
diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
index 3c50a24d2..4e56999bd 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
@@ -45,14 +45,13 @@ module Hledger.Read.JournalReader (
 #endif
 )
 where
-#if !MIN_VERSION_base(4,8,0)
-import Control.Applicative.Compat ((<*))
-#endif
+import Prelude ()
+import Prelude.Compat hiding (readFile)
 import qualified Control.Exception as C
-import Control.Monad
-import Control.Monad.Except
+import Control.Monad.Compat
+import Control.Monad.Except (ExceptT(..), liftIO, throwError, catchError)
 import Data.Char (isNumber)
-import Data.List
+import Data.List.Compat
 import Data.List.Split (wordsBy)
 import Data.Maybe
 import Data.Time.Calendar
@@ -69,7 +68,6 @@ import System.Time (getClockTime)
 
 import Hledger.Data
 import Hledger.Utils
-import Prelude hiding (readFile)
 
 
 -- standard reader exports
diff --git a/hledger-lib/hledger-lib.cabal b/hledger-lib/hledger-lib.cabal
index d4218942a..6ce577b57 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/hledger-lib.cabal
+++ b/hledger-lib/hledger-lib.cabal
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ library
                   Hledger.Utils.UTF8IOCompat
   build-depends:
                   base >= 4.3 && < 5
-                 ,base-compat >= 0.5.0
+                 ,base-compat >= 0.8.0
                  ,array
                  ,blaze-markup >= 0.5.1
                  ,bytestring
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ test-suite tests
   default-language: Haskell2010
   build-depends: hledger-lib
                , base >= 4.3 && < 5
-               , base-compat >= 0.5.0
+               , base-compat >= 0.8.0
                , array
                , blaze-markup >= 0.5.1
                , cmdargs