diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 4d78bfe..e3ef8a0 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
         <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
-        <version>3.3.3</version>
+        <version>3.3.4</version>
         <relativePath/> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
     </parent>
 
@@ -89,6 +89,12 @@
             <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
             <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
             <scope>test</scope>
+            <exclusions>
+                <exclusion>
+                    <groupId>org.hamcrest</groupId>
+                    <artifactId>hamcrest</artifactId>
+                </exclusion>
+            </exclusions>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
@@ -123,6 +129,12 @@
                     <groupId>org.hamcrest</groupId>
                     <artifactId>hamcrest-library</artifactId>
                 </exclusion>
+                <exclusion>
+                    <!-- see: https://github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-java/issues/970#issuecomment-625044008 -->
+                    <!-- can be removed once testcontainers drop their dependency to junit4 -->
+                    <groupId>junit</groupId>
+                    <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
+                </exclusion>
             </exclusions>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/junit/rules/TestRule.java b/src/test/java/org/junit/rules/TestRule.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e499646
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/junit/rules/TestRule.java
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+package org.junit.rules;
+
+/**
+ * This is required by Testcontainers but actually unused.
+ * By defining this here, we can avoid loading Junit-4.
+ * See: https://github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-java/issues/970#issuecomment-625044008
+ */
+@SuppressWarnings("unused")
+public interface TestRule {
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/junit/runners/model/Statement.java b/src/test/java/org/junit/runners/model/Statement.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2a72b00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/junit/runners/model/Statement.java
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+package org.junit.runners.model;
+
+/**
+ * This is required by Testcontainers but actually unused.
+ * By defining this here, we can avoid loading Junit-4.
+ * See: https://github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-java/issues/970#issuecomment-625044008
+ */
+@SuppressWarnings("unused")
+public class Statement {
+}