diff --git a/.claude/skills/sqlitecpp-build-cmake/SKILL.md b/.claude/skills/sqlitecpp-build-cmake/SKILL.md
index d89acd31..d89add91 100644
--- a/.claude/skills/sqlitecpp-build-cmake/SKILL.md
+++ b/.claude/skills/sqlitecpp-build-cmake/SKILL.md
@@ -43,7 +43,9 @@ description: Build SQLiteCpp with CMake. Use for CMake builds, tests, options, o
 ## Notes
 - Tests can use a system `GTest`; otherwise they fall back to the `googletest` submodule.
 - If the submodule is needed: `git submodule update --init --recursive`.
-- SQLiteCpp requires CMake 3.16 or newer and C++17 or newer.
+- SQLiteCpp requires CMake 3.16 or newer, C++17 or newer, and SQLite 3.38.0 or newer.
+- `find_package(SQLite3 3.38.0 REQUIRED)` checks discovered system SQLite versions.
+  Custom SQLite targets are also covered by the source-level compile-time version check.
 - MSVC requires VS2017 15.9 / MSVC 19.16 or newer, enforced with a fatal configuration diagnostic.
 - `cxx_std_17` requests a standard mode; it does not prove complete C++17 feature support.
   Old MSVC toolsets are a special case: CMake can advertise standard meta-features even when the
diff --git a/.claude/skills/sqlitecpp-build-meson/SKILL.md b/.claude/skills/sqlitecpp-build-meson/SKILL.md
index e4a029b6..0a0df9ba 100644
--- a/.claude/skills/sqlitecpp-build-meson/SKILL.md
+++ b/.claude/skills/sqlitecpp-build-meson/SKILL.md
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ description: Builds SQLiteCpp with Meson. Use when configuring Meson builds, tes
 - `SQLITE_OMIT_LOAD_EXTENSION`: omit load extension.
 
 ## Notes
+- SQLiteCpp requires SQLite 3.38.0 or newer. Meson checks the sqlite3 dependency version,
+  and the source-level compile-time check covers custom dependency configurations.
 - C++17 is the SQLiteCpp project minimum; Meson defaults to `cpp_std=c++17` and rejects older standards.
 - MSVC requires VS2017 15.9 / MSVC 19.16 or newer, matching the CMake minimum and its CI coverage.
 - C++20 can be selected explicitly for compatibility testing.
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 9ae6eb8a..908967c6 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ tests, and CI changes, even when the same task prompts both kinds of work.
 - Max 120 characters per line
 
 ## Build System Compatibility
+- SQLiteCpp 4.x requires SQLite 3.38.0 or newer, whether bundled or provided externally.
+  A compile-time check rejects older SQLite headers; CMake and Meson also check discovered dependency versions.
 - The MSVC minimum is Visual Studio 2017 15.9 (MSVC 19.16 / v141 toolset 14.16).
   Keep its explicit build-system diagnostics and dedicated CI coverage aligned. Assert the actual
   compiler version and exercise required library facilities so CI cannot silently use a newer toolset.
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3659acb4..7e5730fb 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Changed
 
+- Bump the shared-library ABI version from 0 to 1 for SQLiteCpp 4.0
+- Require SQLite 3.38.0 or newer (#596)
 - Require C++17 and CMake 3.16 or newer (#580)
 - Adopt CMake 4.4 policies and test them (#581)
-- Bump the shared-library ABI version from 0 to 1 for SQLiteCpp 4.0
 - Use fixed-width integer types in `SQLite::Header`, making field widths consistent across platforms (ABI change) (#582)
 - Update googletest to v1.18.0 (#583)
 - Improve tests for `Savepoint::rollbackTo()` and scope-exit rollback semantics (#584)
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7847b15e..9bb2dcec 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ elseif (SQLITECPP_FIND_SQLITE)
             target_link_libraries(SQLiteCpp PRIVATE ${sqlcipher_LIBRARY})
         endif()
     else()
-        find_package (SQLite3 REQUIRED)
+        find_package (SQLite3 3.38.0 REQUIRED)
         message(STATUS "Link to sqlite3 system library ${SQLite3_VERSION}")
         target_link_libraries(SQLiteCpp PUBLIC SQLite::SQLite3)
         if(SQLite3_VERSION VERSION_LESS "3.19")
@@ -450,6 +450,7 @@ if (SQLITECPP_RUN_CPPCHECK)
     find_program(CPPCHECK_EXECUTABLE NAMES cppcheck)
     if (CPPCHECK_EXECUTABLE)
         # Add an explicit cppcheck target for the quality workflow.
+        # Provide the bundled SQLite header so cppcheck can evaluate SQLITE_VERSION_NUMBER.
         add_custom_target(SQLiteCpp_cppcheck
             COMMAND ${CPPCHECK_EXECUTABLE}
                 -j 8
@@ -457,6 +458,7 @@ if (SQLITECPP_RUN_CPPCHECK)
                 --error-exitcode=1
                 --quiet
                 --std=c++17
+                -I${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/sqlite3
                 ${CPPCHECK_ARG_TEMPLATE}
                 ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src
         )
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fd2b45ce..50a15d56 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ All of the code and documentation in SQLite has been dedicated to the public dom
 - to be light and fast
 
 **C++17 baseline:** SQLiteCpp 4.x requires C++17. SQLiteCpp 3.4.x is the final release line supporting C++11; maintenance fixes for the 3.x series remain on the `sqlitecpp-3.4.x` branch.
+
+**SQLite baseline:** SQLiteCpp 4.x requires SQLite 3.38.0 or newer.
 - to be thread-safe only as much as SQLite "Multi-thread" mode (see below)
 - to have a good unit test coverage
 - to use API names sticking with those of the SQLite library
@@ -87,7 +89,7 @@ and the CMake compatibility workflow also exercises C++20.
 - a C++17-capable compiler and standard library
 - Visual Studio 2017 15.9 (MSVC 19.16 / v141 toolset 14.16) or newer when using MSVC
 - exception support (the class Exception inherits from std::runtime_error)
-- the SQLite library (3.8.7 minimum from 2014-10-17), either by linking to it dynamically or statically
+- the SQLite library (3.38.0 minimum, released 2022-02-22), either by linking to it dynamically or statically
   (install the libsqlite3-dev package under Debian/Ubuntu/Mint Linux),
   or by adding its source file in your project code base (source code provided in src/sqlite3 for Windows),
   with the `SQLITE_ENABLE_COLUMN_METADATA` macro defined (see http://www.sqlite.org/compile.html#enable_column_metadata).
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 3151d433..e525f861 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ thread_dep = dependency('threads')
 # sqlite3 support
 sqlite3_dep = dependency(
                 'sqlite3',
+                version: '>=3.38.0',
                 fallback: ['sqlite3', 'sqlite3_dep']
 )
 
diff --git a/src/Database.cpp b/src/Database.cpp
index 7b723f59..e35fbf8c 100644
--- a/src/Database.cpp
+++ b/src/Database.cpp
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@
 #include <SQLiteCpp/Statement.h>
 
 #include <sqlite3.h>
+
+#if SQLITE_VERSION_NUMBER < 3038000
+    #error "SQLiteCpp 4.0 requires SQLite 3.38.0 or newer"
+#endif
 #include <climits>
 #include <fstream>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -212,8 +216,8 @@ void Database::loadExtension(const char* apExtensionName, const char *apEntryPoi
     // It is recommended that the SQLITE_DBCONFIG_ENABLE_LOAD_EXTENSION method be used to enable only this interface.
     // The use of the sqlite3_enable_load_extension() interface should be avoided to keep the SQL load_extension()
     // disabled and prevent SQL injections from giving attackers access to extension loading capabilities.
-    // (NOTE: not using nullptr: cannot pass object of non-POD type 'std::__1::nullptr_t' through variadic function)
-    int ret = sqlite3_db_config(getHandle(), SQLITE_DBCONFIG_ENABLE_LOAD_EXTENSION, 1, NULL); // NOTE: not using nullptr
+    // sqlite3_db_config is variadic; pass a typed null pointer for its optional int* output.
+    int ret = sqlite3_db_config(getHandle(), SQLITE_DBCONFIG_ENABLE_LOAD_EXTENSION, 1, static_cast<int*>(nullptr));
 #else
     int ret = sqlite3_enable_load_extension(getHandle(), 1);
 #endif