diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index a9481351..6173fc4b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       matrix:
         os: ["ubuntu-latest", "windows-latest"]
-        python-version: ["3.8", "3.9", "3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13"]
+        python-version: ["3.9", "3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13"]
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     env:
       PYTHONUTF8: 1
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index d0736cd6..0ca7bcb5 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ numpy>=1.18.5
 opencv-python-headless==4.10.0.84
 Pillow>=7.1.2
 # https://github.com/roboflow/roboflow-python/issues/390
-pillow-heif<1
+pillow-heif<2
+pillow-avif-plugin<2
 python-dateutil
 python-dotenv
 requests
diff --git a/roboflow/__init__.py b/roboflow/__init__.py
index 00fae2b2..c2d52491 100644
--- a/roboflow/__init__.py
+++ b/roboflow/__init__.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 from roboflow.models import CLIPModel, GazeModel  # noqa: F401
 from roboflow.util.general import write_line
 
-__version__ = "1.1.67"
+__version__ = "1.2.0"
 
 
 def check_key(api_key, model, notebook, num_retries=0):
diff --git a/roboflow/util/image_utils.py b/roboflow/util/image_utils.py
index c9ca6b2a..71a32824 100644
--- a/roboflow/util/image_utils.py
+++ b/roboflow/util/image_utils.py
@@ -5,13 +5,14 @@
 import urllib
 
 # Third-party imports
+import pillow_avif  # type: ignore[import-untyped]
 import pillow_heif  # type: ignore[import-untyped]
 import requests
 import yaml
 from PIL import Image
 
 pillow_heif.register_heif_opener(thumbnails=False)  # Register for HEIF/HEIC
-pillow_heif.register_avif_opener(thumbnails=False)  # Register for AVIF
+pillow_avif = pillow_avif  # Reference pillow_avif to not remove import by accident
 
 
 def check_image_path(image_path):
diff --git a/tests/test_project.py b/tests/test_project.py
index 384e1d3a..96ff4ab9 100644
--- a/tests/test_project.py
+++ b/tests/test_project.py
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ def test_check_valid_image_with_accepted_formats(self):
             "woodland-rabbit.png",
             "file_example_TIFF_1MB.tiff",
             "sky-rabbit.heic",
+            "whatsnew.avif",
         ]
 
         for image in images_to_test: