diff --git a/gpt4all-bindings/python/CHANGELOG.md b/gpt4all-bindings/python/CHANGELOG.md
index 4753e648..e2be48e6 100644
--- a/gpt4all-bindings/python/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/gpt4all-bindings/python/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/).
 
+## [2.8.2] - 2024-08-14
+
+### Fixed
+- Fixed incompatibility with Python 3.8 since v2.7.0 and Python <=3.11 since v2.8.1 ([#2871](https://github.com/nomic-ai/gpt4all/pull/2871))
+
 ## [2.8.1] - 2024-08-13
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/_pyllmodel.py b/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/_pyllmodel.py
index 88be2949..d623b528 100644
--- a/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/_pyllmodel.py
+++ b/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/_pyllmodel.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ def _load_cuda(rtver: str, blasver: str) -> None:
         cudalib   = f"lib/libcudart.so.{rtver}"
         cublaslib = f"lib/libcublas.so.{blasver}"
     else:  # Windows
-        cudalib   = fr"bin\cudart64_{rtver.replace(".", "")}.dll"
+        cudalib   = fr"bin\cudart64_{rtver.replace('.', '')}.dll"
         cublaslib = fr"bin\cublas64_{blasver}.dll"
 
     # preload the CUDA libs so the backend can find them
diff --git a/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/gpt4all.py b/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/gpt4all.py
index 4364d7d5..1711429d 100644
--- a/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/gpt4all.py
+++ b/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/gpt4all.py
@@ -209,27 +209,27 @@ class GPT4All:
         self._current_prompt_template: str = "{0}"
 
         device_init = None
-        if sys.platform == 'darwin':
+        if sys.platform == "darwin":
             if device is None:
-                backend = 'auto'  # 'auto' is effectively 'metal' due to currently non-functional fallback
-            elif device == 'cpu':
-                backend = 'cpu'
+                backend = "auto"  # "auto" is effectively "metal" due to currently non-functional fallback
+            elif device == "cpu":
+                backend = "cpu"
             else:
-                if platform.machine() != 'arm64' or device != 'gpu':
-                    raise ValueError(f'Unknown device for this platform: {device}')
-                backend = 'metal'
+                if platform.machine() != "arm64" or device != "gpu":
+                    raise ValueError(f"Unknown device for this platform: {device}")
+                backend = "metal"
         else:
-            backend = 'kompute'
-            if device is None or device == 'cpu':
+            backend = "kompute"
+            if device is None or device == "cpu":
                 pass  # use kompute with no device
-            elif device in ('cuda', 'kompute'):
+            elif device in ("cuda", "kompute"):
                 backend = device
-                device_init = 'gpu'
-            elif device.startswith('cuda:'):
-                backend = 'cuda'
-                device_init = device.removeprefix('cuda:')
+                device_init = "gpu"
+            elif device.startswith("cuda:"):
+                backend = "cuda"
+                device_init = _remove_prefix(device, "cuda:")
             else:
-                device_init = device.removeprefix('kompute:')
+                device_init = _remove_prefix(device, "kompute:")
 
         # Retrieve model and download if allowed
         self.config: ConfigType = self.retrieve_model(model_name, model_path=model_path, allow_download=allow_download, verbose=verbose)
@@ -706,3 +706,7 @@ def _fsync(fd: int | _HasFileno) -> None:
         else:
             return
     os.fsync(fd)
+
+
+def _remove_prefix(s: str, prefix: str) -> str:
+    return s[len(prefix):] if s.startswith(prefix) else s
diff --git a/gpt4all-bindings/python/setup.py b/gpt4all-bindings/python/setup.py
index 63bd9140..e22cbe23 100644
--- a/gpt4all-bindings/python/setup.py
+++ b/gpt4all-bindings/python/setup.py
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ def get_long_description():
 
 setup(
     name=package_name,
-    version="2.8.1",
+    version="2.8.2",
     description="Python bindings for GPT4All",
     long_description=get_long_description(),
     long_description_content_type="text/markdown",