diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index f0fc0ed..132c9ca 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ ci:
 # See https://pre-commit.com/hooks.html for more hooks
 repos:
     - repo: https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit-hooks
-      rev: v4.6.0
+      rev: v5.0.0
       hooks:
           - id: end-of-file-fixer
           - id: check-yaml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ repos:
 
 
     - repo: https://github.com/astral-sh/ruff-pre-commit
-      rev: v0.6.3
+      rev: v0.6.9
       hooks:
           - id: ruff
             name: ruff linter
diff --git a/nigsp/_version.py b/nigsp/_version.py
index 950480b..5486c07 100644
--- a/nigsp/_version.py
+++ b/nigsp/_version.py
@@ -96,9 +96,7 @@ def run_command(commands, args, cwd=None, verbose=False, hide_stderr=False, env=
         if verbose:
             print(f"unable to find command, tried {commands}")
         return None, None
-    stdout = p.communicate()[0].strip()
-    if sys.version_info[0] >= 3:
-        stdout = stdout.decode()
+    stdout = p.communicate()[0].strip().decode()
     if p.returncode != 0:
         if verbose:
             print("unable to run %s (error)" % dispcmd)