diff --git a/pkgs/games/starsector/default.nix b/pkgs/games/starsector/default.nix
index f40ae8857366..72ca3f5b897b 100644
--- a/pkgs/games/starsector/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/games/starsector/default.nix
@@ -13,11 +13,11 @@
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "starsector";
-  version = "0.96a-RC10";
+  version = "0.97a-RC8";
 
   src = fetchzip {
     url = "https://f005.backblazeb2.com/file/fractalsoftworks/release/starsector_linux-${version}.zip";
-    sha256 = "sha256-RBSnms+QlKgTOhm3t2hDfv7OcMrQCk1rfkz9GaM74WM=";
+    sha256 = "sha256-mfx6tmgIT+bMEpMXAcHVMMJMr1zlALStpoUxYw8MYsY=";
   };
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ copyDesktopItems makeWrapper ];
@@ -63,12 +63,14 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   # it tries to run everything with relative paths, which makes it CWD dependent
   # also point mod, screenshot, and save directory to $XDG_DATA_HOME
   # additionally, add some GC options to improve performance of the game
+  # and remove flags "PermSize" and "MaxPermSize" that were removed with Java 8
   postPatch = ''
     substituteInPlace starsector.sh \
-      --replace "./jre_linux/bin/java" "${openjdk}/bin/java" \
-      --replace "./native/linux" "$out/share/starsector/native/linux" \
-      --replace "=." "=\''${XDG_DATA_HOME:-\$HOME/.local/share}/starsector" \
-      --replace "-XX:+CompilerThreadHintNoPreempt" "-XX:+UnlockDiagnosticVMOptions -XX:-BytecodeVerificationRemote -XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC -XX:+UseParNewGC -XX:+CMSConcurrentMTEnabled -XX:+DisableExplicitGC"
+      --replace-fail "./jre_linux/bin/java" "${openjdk}/bin/java" \
+      --replace-fail "./native/linux" "$out/share/starsector/native/linux" \
+      --replace-fail "=." "=\''${XDG_DATA_HOME:-\$HOME/.local/share}/starsector" \
+      --replace-warn "-XX:+CompilerThreadHintNoPreempt" "-XX:+UnlockDiagnosticVMOptions -XX:-BytecodeVerificationRemote -XX:+CMSConcurrentMTEnabled -XX:+DisableExplicitGC" \
+      --replace-quiet " -XX:PermSize=192m -XX:MaxPermSize=192m" ""
   '';
 
   passthru.updateScript = writeScript "starsector-update-script" ''