diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 9166e60..9841c59 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ python_requires = >=3.8
 install_requires =
     blinker
     click
-    Jinja2
+    Jinja2>=2.7
     Markdown
     Pillow>=4.0.0
     pilkit
diff --git a/sigal/writer.py b/sigal/writer.py
index 5358b09..ddbbc8c 100644
--- a/sigal/writer.py
+++ b/sigal/writer.py
@@ -76,12 +76,7 @@ class AbstractWriter:
         )
 
         # setup jinja env
-        env_options = {"trim_blocks": True, "autoescape": True}
-        try:
-            if tuple(int(x) for x in jinja2.__version__.split(".")) >= (2, 7):
-                env_options["lstrip_blocks"] = True
-        except ValueError:
-            pass
+        env_options = {"trim_blocks": True, "autoescape": True, "lstrip_blocks": True}
 
         loaders = [
             FileSystemLoader(theme_relpath),