diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 9abd0efc1e87f..bafce2b0cc6d7 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ jobs:
       - <<: *install_node_modules
       - <<: *persist_cache
       # persist our git checkout and node_modules as the next step (assert-changed-files) might exit this step
-      # when no files have changed (master). We still need to have these files for jobs like lint & unit_tests_node8
+      # when no files have changed (master). We still need to have these files for jobs like lint & unit_tests_node10
       - persist_to_workspace:
           root: ./
           paths:
diff --git a/packages/babel-preset-gatsby-package/README.md b/packages/babel-preset-gatsby-package/README.md
index 7c4d27bc7d4aa..dc0978e8157a8 100644
--- a/packages/babel-preset-gatsby-package/README.md
+++ b/packages/babel-preset-gatsby-package/README.md
@@ -41,6 +41,6 @@ Outputs the targets/plugins used and the version specified in [plugin data versi
 
 ### `nodeVersion`
 
-`string`, defaults to `8.0`
+`string`, defaults to `10.13`
 
 Allows the Node.js version target to be modified per [`@babel/preset-env` documentation](https://babeljs.io/docs/en/babel-preset-env#targetsnode)
diff --git a/packages/gatsby-remark-copy-linked-files/package.json b/packages/gatsby-remark-copy-linked-files/package.json
index 8be1a99f0d6f2..278e79a0c98f1 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-remark-copy-linked-files/package.json
+++ b/packages/gatsby-remark-copy-linked-files/package.json
@@ -22,8 +22,7 @@
     "babel-preset-gatsby-package": "^0.3.0",
     "cross-env": "^5.2.1",
     "remark": "^10.0.1",
-    "remark-mdx": "^1.5.7",
-    "semver": "^6.3.0"
+    "remark-mdx": "^1.5.7"
   },
   "homepage": "https://github.com/gatsbyjs/gatsby/tree/master/packages/gatsby-remark-copy-linked-files#readme",
   "keywords": [
diff --git a/packages/gatsby-remark-copy-linked-files/src/__tests__/index.js b/packages/gatsby-remark-copy-linked-files/src/__tests__/index.js
index 30c9a9d22e94c..328c8cfc1462b 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-remark-copy-linked-files/src/__tests__/index.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby-remark-copy-linked-files/src/__tests__/index.js
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ jest.mock(`fs-extra`, () => {
 const Remark = require(`remark`)
 const fsExtra = require(`fs-extra`)
 const path = require(`path`)
-const semver = require(`semver`)
 
 const plugin = require(`../`)
 
@@ -20,15 +19,6 @@ const remark = new Remark().data(`settings`, {
 
 const imageURL = markdownAST => markdownAST.children[0].children[0].url
 
-const testInNode8OrHigher = (title, ...args) => {
-  const isNode8OrHigher = semver.satisfies(process.version, `>=8`)
-  if (isNode8OrHigher) {
-    it(title, ...args)
-  } else {
-    it.skip(`skipped on Node 7 or lower: ${title}`, ...args)
-  }
-}
-
 describe(`gatsby-remark-copy-linked-files`, () => {
   afterEach(() => {
     fsExtra.copy.mockReset()
@@ -132,7 +122,7 @@ describe(`gatsby-remark-copy-linked-files`, () => {
     expect(fsExtra.copy).toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 
-  testInNode8OrHigher(`can copy JSX images`, async () => {
+  it(`can copy JSX images`, async () => {
     const mdx = require(`remark-mdx`)
     const path = `images/sample-image.gif`
 
diff --git a/packages/gatsby-remark-responsive-iframe/package.json b/packages/gatsby-remark-responsive-iframe/package.json
index 3245ca1a23482..a18736c3ee6ad 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-remark-responsive-iframe/package.json
+++ b/packages/gatsby-remark-responsive-iframe/package.json
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
     "cross-env": "^5.2.1",
     "remark": "^10.0.1",
     "remark-mdx": "^1.5.7",
-    "semver": "^6.3.0",
     "unist-util-find": "^1.0.1"
   },
   "homepage": "https://github.com/gatsbyjs/gatsby/tree/master/packages/gatsby-remark-responsive-iframe#readme",
diff --git a/packages/gatsby-remark-responsive-iframe/src/__tests__/index.js b/packages/gatsby-remark-responsive-iframe/src/__tests__/index.js
index 728cd9dd39cdc..7de121916025c 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-remark-responsive-iframe/src/__tests__/index.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby-remark-responsive-iframe/src/__tests__/index.js
@@ -1,19 +1,9 @@
 const Remark = require(`remark`)
 const find = require(`unist-util-find`)
 const _ = require(`lodash`)
-const semver = require(`semver`)
 
 const plugin = require(`../`)
 
-const testInNode8OrHigher = (title, ...args) => {
-  const isNode8OrHigher = semver.satisfies(process.version, `>=8`)
-  if (isNode8OrHigher) {
-    it(title, ...args)
-  } else {
-    it.skip(`skipped on Node 7 or lower: ${title}`, ...args)
-  }
-}
-
 const remark = new Remark().data(`settings`, {
   commonmark: true,
   footnotes: true,
@@ -83,7 +73,7 @@ describe(`gatsby-remark-responsive-iframe`, () => {
     })
   })
 
-  testInNode8OrHigher(`can copy JSX images`, async () => {
+  it(`can copy JSX images`, async () => {
     const mdx = require(`remark-mdx`)
 
     const markdownAST = remark().use(mdx).parse(`