diff --git a/.github/workflows/CI.yml b/.github/workflows/CI.yml
index f5f0849..3e54aeb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/CI.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/CI.yml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ jobs:
   matrix:
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: ["3.9", "3.10", "3.11", "3.12"]
+        python-version: ["3.10", "3.11", "3.12"]
     name: Pytest on ${{matrix.python-version}}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
diff --git a/docs/src/release_notes.rst b/docs/src/release_notes.rst
index f66e1db..9883d84 100644
--- a/docs/src/release_notes.rst
+++ b/docs/src/release_notes.rst
@@ -11,8 +11,9 @@ sphinx-codeautolink adheres to
 Unreleased
 ----------
 - Declare support for Python 3.12 and 3.13 (:issue:`150`)
-- Remove support for Python 3.7 and 3.8 (:issue:`150`)
+- Remove support for Python 3.7-3.9 (:issue:`150`, :issue:`157`)
 - Fix changed whitespace handling in Pygments 2.19 (:issue:`152`)
+- Improve support for future and string annotations (:issue:`155`)
 
 0.15.2 (2024-06-03)
 -------------------
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 4877d05..eeeb668 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ readme = "readme_pypi.rst"
 license = {file = "LICENSE"}
 dynamic = ["version"]
 
-requires-python = ">=3.9"
+requires-python = ">=3.10"
 dependencies = [
     "sphinx>=3.2.0",
     "beautifulsoup4>=4.8.1",
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ classifiers = [
     "Framework :: Sphinx :: Extension",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: Only",
-    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12",
diff --git a/src/sphinx_codeautolink/extension/block.py b/src/sphinx_codeautolink/extension/block.py
index 1e05ed9..ce6ec48 100644
--- a/src/sphinx_codeautolink/extension/block.py
+++ b/src/sphinx_codeautolink/extension/block.py
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import re
+from collections.abc import Callable
 from copy import copy
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Callable
 
 from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
 from docutils import nodes
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ def _format_source_for_error(
         guides[ix] = "block source:"
         pad = max(len(i) + 1 for i in guides)
         guides = [g.ljust(pad) for g in guides]
-        return "\n".join([g + s for g, s in zip(guides, lines)])
+        return "\n".join([g + s for g, s in zip(guides, lines, strict=True)])
 
     def _parsing_error_msg(self, error: Exception, language: str, source: str) -> str:
         return "\n".join(
diff --git a/src/sphinx_codeautolink/extension/directive.py b/src/sphinx_codeautolink/extension/directive.py
index b688610..de39f77 100644
--- a/src/sphinx_codeautolink/extension/directive.py
+++ b/src/sphinx_codeautolink/extension/directive.py
@@ -136,5 +136,5 @@ def unknown_visit(self, node) -> None:
         if isinstance(node, DeferredExamples):
             # Remove surrounding paragraph too
             node.parent.parent.remove(node.parent)
-        if isinstance(node, (ConcatMarker, PrefaceMarker, SkipMarker)):
+        if isinstance(node, ConcatMarker | PrefaceMarker | SkipMarker):
             node.parent.remove(node)
diff --git a/src/sphinx_codeautolink/extension/resolve.py b/src/sphinx_codeautolink/extension/resolve.py
index 17168e0..eac3fad 100644
--- a/src/sphinx_codeautolink/extension/resolve.py
+++ b/src/sphinx_codeautolink/extension/resolve.py
@@ -2,12 +2,14 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+from collections.abc import Callable
 from contextlib import suppress
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from functools import cache
 from importlib import import_module
 from inspect import isclass, isroutine
-from typing import Any, Callable, Union
+from types import UnionType
+from typing import Any, Union, get_type_hints
 
 from sphinx_codeautolink.parse import Name, NameBreak
 
@@ -116,34 +118,27 @@ def call_value(cursor: Cursor) -> None:
 
 def get_return_annotation(func: Callable) -> type | None:
     """Determine the target of a function return type hint."""
-    annotations = getattr(func, "__annotations__", {})
-    ret_annotation = annotations.get("return", None)
+    annotation = get_type_hints(func).get("return")
 
     # Inner type from typing.Optional or Union[None, T]
-    origin = getattr(ret_annotation, "__origin__", None)
-    args = getattr(ret_annotation, "__args__", None)
-    if origin is Union and len(args) == 2:  # noqa: PLR2004
+    origin = getattr(annotation, "__origin__", None)
+    args = getattr(annotation, "__args__", None)
+    if (origin is Union or isinstance(annotation, UnionType)) and len(args) == 2:  # noqa: PLR2004
         nonetype = type(None)
         if args[0] is nonetype:
-            ret_annotation = args[1]
+            annotation = args[1]
         elif args[1] is nonetype:
-            ret_annotation = args[0]
-
-    # Try to resolve a string annotation in the module scope
-    if isinstance(ret_annotation, str):
-        location = fully_qualified_name(func)
-        mod, _ = closest_module(tuple(location.split(".")))
-        ret_annotation = getattr(mod, ret_annotation, ret_annotation)
+            annotation = args[0]
 
     if (
-        not ret_annotation
-        or not isinstance(ret_annotation, type)
-        or hasattr(ret_annotation, "__origin__")
+        not annotation
+        or not isinstance(annotation, type)
+        or hasattr(annotation, "__origin__")
     ):
         msg = f"Unable to follow return annotation of {get_name_for_debugging(func)}."
         raise CouldNotResolve(msg)
 
-    return ret_annotation
+    return annotation
 
 
 def fully_qualified_name(thing: type | Callable) -> str:
diff --git a/src/sphinx_codeautolink/parse.py b/src/sphinx_codeautolink/parse.py
index 7f972f0..a0a6df8 100644
--- a/src/sphinx_codeautolink/parse.py
+++ b/src/sphinx_codeautolink/parse.py
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@ def visit_Import(self, node: ast.Import | ast.ImportFrom, prefix: str = "") -> N
         if prefix:
             self.save_access(Access(LinkContext.import_from, [], prefix_components))
 
-        for import_name, alias in zip(import_names, aliases):
+        for import_name, alias in zip(import_names, aliases, strict=True):
             if not import_star:
                 components = [
                     Component(n, *linenos(node), "load") for n in import_name.split(".")
@@ -561,7 +561,7 @@ def visit_MatchClass(self, node: ast.AST) -> None:
                 accesses.append(access)
 
         assigns = []
-        for attr, pattern in zip(node.kwd_attrs, node.kwd_patterns):
+        for attr, pattern in zip(node.kwd_attrs, node.kwd_patterns, strict=True):
             target = self.visit(pattern)
             attr_comps = [
                 Component(NameBreak.call, *linenos(node), "load"),
diff --git a/tests/extension/__init__.py b/tests/extension/__init__.py
index 9092d31..bf3613c 100644
--- a/tests/extension/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/extension/__init__.py
@@ -30,11 +30,7 @@
 
 any_whitespace = re.compile(r"\s*")
 ref_tests = [(p.name, p) for p in Path(__file__).with_name("ref").glob("*.txt")]
-ref_xfails = {
-    "ref_fluent_attrs.txt": sys.version_info < (3, 8),
-    "ref_fluent_call.txt": sys.version_info < (3, 8),
-    "ref_import_from_complex.txt": sys.version_info < (3, 8),
-}
+ref_xfails = {}
 
 
 def assert_links(file: Path, links: list):
@@ -44,7 +40,7 @@ def assert_links(file: Path, links: list):
     strings = [any_whitespace.sub("", "".join(b.strings)) for b in blocks]
 
     assert len(strings) == len(links)
-    for s, link in zip(strings, links):
+    for s, link in zip(strings, links, strict=False):
         assert s == link
 
 
@@ -119,7 +115,7 @@ def test_tables(file: Path, tmp_path: Path):
     strings = [any_whitespace.sub("", "".join(b.strings)) for b in blocks]
 
     assert len(strings) == len(links)
-    for s, link in zip(strings, links):
+    for s, link in zip(strings, links, strict=False):
         assert s == link
 
 
diff --git a/tests/extension/ref/ref_optional.txt b/tests/extension/ref/ref_optional.txt
index f799685..9788984 100644
--- a/tests/extension/ref/ref_optional.txt
+++ b/tests/extension/ref/ref_optional.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 test_project
 test_project.optional
 attr
+test_project.optional_manual
+attr
 # split
 # split
 Test project
@@ -10,5 +12,6 @@ Test project
 
    import test_project
    test_project.optional().attr
+   test_project.optional_manual().attr
 
 .. automodule:: test_project
diff --git a/tests/extension/ref/ref_optional_future.txt b/tests/extension/ref/ref_optional_future.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c26f3d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/extension/ref/ref_optional_future.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+future_project
+future_project.optional
+attr
+future_project.optional_manual
+attr
+# split
+# split
+Test project
+============
+
+.. code:: python
+
+   import future_project
+   future_project.optional().attr
+   future_project.optional_manual().attr
+
+.. automodule:: future_project
diff --git a/tests/extension/ref/ref_optional_manual.txt b/tests/extension/ref/ref_optional_manual.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index f799685..0000000
--- a/tests/extension/ref/ref_optional_manual.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-test_project
-test_project.optional
-attr
-# split
-# split
-Test project
-============
-
-.. code:: python
-
-   import test_project
-   test_project.optional().attr
-
-.. automodule:: test_project
diff --git a/tests/extension/src/future_project.py b/tests/extension/src/future_project.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6236a07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/extension/src/future_project.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# noqa: INP001
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from typing import Optional
+
+
+class Foo:
+    """Foo test class."""
+
+    attr: str = "test"
+
+
+def optional() -> Optional[Foo]:  # noqa: UP007
+    """Return optional type."""
+
+
+def optional_manual() -> None | Foo:
+    """Return manually constructed optional type."""
diff --git a/tests/extension/src/test_project/__init__.py b/tests/extension/src/test_project/__init__.py
index 9dc558a..b219257 100644
--- a/tests/extension/src/test_project/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/extension/src/test_project/__init__.py
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 """Docstring."""
 
-from typing import Optional, Union
-
 from .sub import SubBar, subfoo  # noqa: F401
 
 
@@ -31,15 +29,15 @@ def bar() -> Foo:
     """Bar test function."""
 
 
-def optional() -> Optional[Foo]:
+def optional() -> Foo | None:
     """Return optional type."""
 
 
-def optional_manual() -> Union[None, Foo]:
+def optional_manual() -> None | Foo:
     """Return manually constructed optional type."""
 
 
-def optional_counter() -> Union[Foo, Baz]:
+def optional_counter() -> Foo | Baz:
     """Failing case for incorrect optional type handling."""
 
 
diff --git a/tests/parse/_util.py b/tests/parse/_util.py
index cda7fb8..bff875a 100644
--- a/tests/parse/_util.py
+++ b/tests/parse/_util.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ def wrapper(self):
             print(f"components={components}, code_str={code_str}")
         print("\nParsed names:")
         [print(n) for n in names]
-        for n, e in zip(names, expected):
+        for n, e in zip(names, expected, strict=True):
             s = ".".join(c for c in n.import_components)
             assert s == e[0], f"Wrong import! Expected\n{e}\ngot\n{n}"
             assert n.code_str == e[1], f"Wrong code str! Expected\n{e}\ngot\n{n}"