diff --git a/Gemfile.template b/Gemfile.template
index b773f7a0430..40e86ddecc3 100644
--- a/Gemfile.template
+++ b/Gemfile.template
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ gem "ruby-progressbar", "~> 1", require: false
 gem "ruby-maven-libs", "~> 3", ">= 3.9.6.1"
 gem "polyglot", require: false
 gem "treetop", require: false
-gem "faraday", "~> 1", :require => false # due elasticsearch-transport (elastic-transport) depending faraday '~> 1'
 gem "minitar", "~> 1", :group => :build
 gem "childprocess", "~> 4", :group => :build
 gem "fpm", "~> 1", ">= 1.14.1", :group => :build # compound due to bugfix https://github.com/jordansissel/fpm/pull/1856
diff --git a/logstash-core/lib/logstash/elasticsearch_client.rb b/logstash-core/lib/logstash/elasticsearch_client.rb
index 7a79efa1666..27e9978613f 100644
--- a/logstash-core/lib/logstash/elasticsearch_client.rb
+++ b/logstash-core/lib/logstash/elasticsearch_client.rb
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 # under the License.
 
 require "elasticsearch"
-require "elasticsearch/transport/transport/http/manticore"
+require "elastic/transport/transport/http/manticore"
 require 'logstash/util/manticore_ssl_config_helper'
 require 'logstash/util/password'
 
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ module LogStash class ElasticsearchClient
   include LogStash::Util::Loggable
 
   class Response
-    # duplicated here from Elasticsearch::Transport::Transport::Response
+    # duplicated here from Elastic::Transport::Transport::Response
     # to create a normalised response across different client IMPL
     attr_reader :status, :body, :headers
 
@@ -65,8 +65,13 @@ def initialize(settings, logger)
     def can_connect?
       begin
         head(SecureRandom.hex(32).prepend('_'))
-      rescue Elasticsearch::Transport::Transport::Errors::BadRequest
+      rescue Elastic::Transport::Transport::Errors::BadRequest
         true
+      rescue Elastic::Transport::Transport::Errors::Unauthorized
+        true
+      rescue Exception => e
+        return true if e.message.include?('Connection refused')
+        raise e
       rescue Manticore::SocketException
         false
       end
@@ -116,7 +121,7 @@ def normalize_response(response)
 
     def client_args
       {
-        :transport_class => Elasticsearch::Transport::Transport::HTTP::Manticore,
+        :transport_class => Elastic::Transport::Transport::HTTP::Manticore,
         :hosts => [*unpack_hosts],
         # :logger => @logger, # silence the client logging
       }
diff --git a/logstash-core/logstash-core.gemspec b/logstash-core/logstash-core.gemspec
index bb1a043e189..43b4258974d 100644
--- a/logstash-core/logstash-core.gemspec
+++ b/logstash-core/logstash-core.gemspec
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |gem|
   gem.email         = ["info@elastic.co"]
   gem.description   = %q{The core components of logstash, the scalable log and event management tool}
   gem.summary       = %q{logstash-core - The core components of logstash}
-  gem.homepage      = "http://www.elastic.co/guide/en/logstash/current/index.html"
+  gem.homepage      = "https://www.elastic.co/logstash"
   gem.license       = "Apache-2.0"
 
   gem.files         = Dir.glob(
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |gem|
 
   gem.add_runtime_dependency "jrjackson", "= #{ALL_VERSIONS.fetch('jrjackson')}" #(Apache 2.0 license)
 
-  gem.add_runtime_dependency "elasticsearch", '~> 7'
+  gem.add_runtime_dependency "elasticsearch", '~> 8'
   gem.add_runtime_dependency "manticore", '~> 0.6'
 
   # xpack geoip database service
diff --git a/logstash-core/spec/logstash/webserver_spec.rb b/logstash-core/spec/logstash/webserver_spec.rb
index e766be329be..18b9ce42ea3 100644
--- a/logstash-core/spec/logstash/webserver_spec.rb
+++ b/logstash-core/spec/logstash/webserver_spec.rb
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ def free_ports(servers)
     context "and invalid basic auth is provided" do
       it 'emits an HTTP 401 with WWW-Authenticate header' do
         response = Faraday.new("http://#{api_host}:#{webserver.port}") do |conn|
-          conn.request :basic_auth, 'john-doe', 'open-sesame'
+          conn.request :authorization, :basic, 'john-doe', 'open-sesame'
         end.get('/')
         aggregate_failures do
           expect(response.status).to eq(401)
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ def free_ports(servers)
     context "and valid auth is provided" do
       it "returns a relevant response" do
         response = Faraday.new("http://#{api_host}:#{webserver.port}") do |conn|
-          conn.request :basic_auth, 'a-user', 's3cur3dPas!'
+          conn.request :authorization, :basic, 'a-user', 's3cur3dPas!'
         end.get('/')
         aggregate_failures do
           expect(response.status).to eq(200)
diff --git a/qa/integration/specs/dlq_spec.rb b/qa/integration/specs/dlq_spec.rb
index 965b39d0c07..db1879d5f57 100644
--- a/qa/integration/specs/dlq_spec.rb
+++ b/qa/integration/specs/dlq_spec.rb
@@ -83,10 +83,10 @@
       try(60) do
         begin
           result = es_client.search(index: 'test-index', size: 0, q: '*')
-        rescue Elasticsearch::Transport::Transport::Errors::ServiceUnavailable => e
+        rescue Elastic::Transport::Transport::Errors::ServiceUnavailable => e
           puts "Elasticsearch unavailable #{e.inspect}"
           hits = 0
-        rescue Elasticsearch::Transport::Transport::Errors::NotFound => e
+        rescue Elastic::Transport::Transport::Errors::NotFound => e
           puts "Index not found"
           hits = 0
         end
diff --git a/x-pack/qa/integration/management/multiple_pipelines_spec.rb b/x-pack/qa/integration/management/multiple_pipelines_spec.rb
index 0511da0bfac..c678a23deae 100644
--- a/x-pack/qa/integration/management/multiple_pipelines_spec.rb
+++ b/x-pack/qa/integration/management/multiple_pipelines_spec.rb
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ def count_hashes(pipelines)
 
     begin
       res = elasticsearch_client.search(index: '.monitoring-logstash-*', body: query)
-    rescue Elasticsearch::Transport::Transport::Errors::ServiceUnavailable
+    rescue Elastic::Transport::Transport::Errors::ServiceUnavailable
       return nil
     end
 
diff --git a/x-pack/qa/integration/monitoring/es_documents_structure_validation_spec.rb b/x-pack/qa/integration/monitoring/es_documents_structure_validation_spec.rb
index 9b3c31057cb..e8bd42f1fd5 100644
--- a/x-pack/qa/integration/monitoring/es_documents_structure_validation_spec.rb
+++ b/x-pack/qa/integration/monitoring/es_documents_structure_validation_spec.rb
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@
   let(:retryable_errors) do
     [NoMethodError,
      RSpec::Expectations::ExpectationNotMetError,
-     Elasticsearch::Transport::Transport::Errors::ServiceUnavailable,
-     Elasticsearch::Transport::Transport::Errors::NotFound]
+     Elastic::Transport::Transport::Errors::ServiceUnavailable,
+     Elastic::Transport::Transport::Errors::NotFound]
   end
 
   describe "metrics" do
diff --git a/x-pack/qa/integration/support/helpers.rb b/x-pack/qa/integration/support/helpers.rb
index a216d1cd8d4..0122b8dbab1 100644
--- a/x-pack/qa/integration/support/helpers.rb
+++ b/x-pack/qa/integration/support/helpers.rb
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ def cleanup_system_indices(pipeline_ids)
     pipeline_ids.each do |id|
       begin
         elasticsearch_client.perform_request(:delete, "_logstash/pipeline/#{id}")
-      rescue Elasticsearch::Transport::Transport::Errors::NotFound => e
+      rescue Elastic::Transport::Transport::Errors::NotFound => e
         puts ".logstash can be empty #{e.message}"
       end
     end
diff --git a/x-pack/qa/integration/support/shared_examples.rb b/x-pack/qa/integration/support/shared_examples.rb
index 5c8a54f00f3..e3890339608 100644
--- a/x-pack/qa/integration/support/shared_examples.rb
+++ b/x-pack/qa/integration/support/shared_examples.rb
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@
   let(:retryable_errors) do
     [NoMethodError,
      RSpec::Expectations::ExpectationNotMetError,
-     Elasticsearch::Transport::Transport::Errors::ServiceUnavailable,
-     Elasticsearch::Transport::Transport::Errors::NotFound]
+     Elastic::Transport::Transport::Errors::ServiceUnavailable,
+     Elastic::Transport::Transport::Errors::NotFound]
   end
 
   describe "metrics" do