diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 2ce8d29fac..74b3865e51 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -1178,6 +1178,14 @@ fi
 ##########################################
 # detect rust triple
 
+meson_version=$($meson --version)
+if test "$rust" != disabled && ! version_ge "$meson_version" 1.8.1; then
+  if test "$rust" = enabled; then
+    error_exit "Rust support needs Meson 1.8.1 or newer"
+  fi
+  echo "Rust needs Meson 1.8.1, disabling" 2>&1
+  rust=disabled
+fi
 if test "$rust" != disabled && has "$rustc" && $rustc -vV > "${TMPDIR1}/${TMPB}.out"; then
   rust_host_triple=$(sed -n 's/^host: //p' "${TMPDIR1}/${TMPB}.out")
 else
diff --git a/python/scripts/vendor.py b/python/scripts/vendor.py
index 0405e910b4..b47db00743 100755
--- a/python/scripts/vendor.py
+++ b/python/scripts/vendor.py
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ def main() -> int:
     parser.parse_args()
 
     packages = {
-        "meson==1.5.0":
-        "52b34f4903b882df52ad0d533146d4b992c018ea77399f825579737672ae7b20",
+        "meson==1.8.1":
+        "374bbf71247e629475fc10b0bd2ef66fc418c2d8f4890572f74de0f97d0d42da",
     }
 
     vendor_dir = Path(__file__, "..", "..", "wheels").resolve()
diff --git a/python/wheels/meson-1.5.0-py3-none-any.whl b/python/wheels/meson-1.5.0-py3-none-any.whl
deleted file mode 100644
index c7edeb37ad..0000000000
Binary files a/python/wheels/meson-1.5.0-py3-none-any.whl and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/python/wheels/meson-1.8.1-py3-none-any.whl b/python/wheels/meson-1.8.1-py3-none-any.whl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a885f0e18c
Binary files /dev/null and b/python/wheels/meson-1.8.1-py3-none-any.whl differ
diff --git a/pythondeps.toml b/pythondeps.toml
index 7eaaa0fed1..7884ab521d 100644
--- a/pythondeps.toml
+++ b/pythondeps.toml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 
 [meson]
 # The install key should match the version in python/wheels/
-meson = { accepted = ">=1.5.0", installed = "1.5.0", canary = "meson" }
+meson = { accepted = ">=1.5.0", installed = "1.8.1", canary = "meson" }
 pycotap = { accepted = ">=1.1.0", installed = "1.3.1" }
 
 [docs]
diff --git a/tests/lcitool/mappings.yml b/tests/lcitool/mappings.yml
index 673baf3936..8f0e95e1c5 100644
--- a/tests/lcitool/mappings.yml
+++ b/tests/lcitool/mappings.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ mappings:
 
   meson:
     OpenSUSELeap15:
+    # Use Meson from PyPI wherever Rust is enabled
+    Debian:
+    Fedora:
+    Ubuntu:
 
   python3:
     OpenSUSELeap15: python311-base
@@ -72,7 +76,7 @@ mappings:
 pypi_mappings:
   # Request more recent version
   meson:
-    default: meson==1.5.0
+    default: meson==1.8.1
 
   # Drop packages that need devel headers
   python3-numpy: