diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 2b0bd70282b..440fe761d99 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -781,6 +781,8 @@ Library
 Extension Modules
 -----------------
 
+- Issue #6949: Allow the _dbm extension to be built with db 4.8.x.
+
 - Issue #6544: fix a reference leak in the kqueue implementation's error
   handling.
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 77524d1c441..1d648b5ee9a 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -651,7 +651,7 @@ class PyBuildExt(build_ext):
         # a release.  Most open source OSes come with one or more
         # versions of BerkeleyDB already installed.
 
-        max_db_ver = (4, 7)
+        max_db_ver = (4, 8)
         min_db_ver = (3, 3)
         db_setup_debug = False   # verbose debug prints from this script?