diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index 739fa0e22..cc1b8ca66 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -38,14 +38,12 @@ jobs:
         - "3.12"
         - "3.13-dev"
         docutils:
-        - "0.18"
+        - "0.20"
         - "0.21"
-        include:
-        # test every supported Docutils version for the latest supported Python
-        - python: "3.12"
-          docutils: "0.19"
-        - python: "3.12"
-          docutils: "0.20"
+#        include:
+#        # test every supported Docutils version for the latest supported Python
+#        - python: "3.12"
+#          docutils: "0.20"
 
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 384d27f81..4158ab2a6 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ Release 7.4.0 (in development)
 Dependencies
 ------------
 
+* #12555: Drop Docutils 0.18.1 and Docutils 0.19 support.
+  Patch by Adam Turner
+
 Incompatible changes
 --------------------
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 4d3339e7b..36bf9ebba 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "sphinxcontrib-qthelp",
     "Jinja2>=3.0",
     "Pygments>=2.14",
-    "docutils>=0.18.1,<0.22",
+    "docutils>=0.20,<0.22",
     "snowballstemmer>=2.0",
     "babel>=2.9",
     "alabaster~=0.7.14",
diff --git a/sphinx/builders/html/__init__.py b/sphinx/builders/html/__init__.py
index 3fb3cf75d..5ef64b201 100644
--- a/sphinx/builders/html/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinx/builders/html/__init__.py
@@ -209,11 +209,7 @@ class StandaloneHTMLBuilder(Builder):
             source_class=DocTreeInput,
             destination=StringOutput(encoding='unicode'),
         )
-        if docutils.__version_info__[:2] >= (0, 19):
-            pub.get_settings(output_encoding='unicode', traceback=True)
-        else:
-            op = pub.setup_option_parser(output_encoding='unicode', traceback=True)
-            pub.settings = op.get_default_values()
+        pub.get_settings(output_encoding='unicode', traceback=True)
         self._publisher = pub
 
     def init(self) -> None:
diff --git a/sphinx/io.py b/sphinx/io.py
index 459d250e4..b46c900a2 100644
--- a/sphinx/io.py
+++ b/sphinx/io.py
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any
 
-import docutils
-from docutils import nodes
 from docutils.core import Publisher
 from docutils.io import FileInput, Input, NullOutput
 from docutils.readers import standalone
@@ -25,6 +23,7 @@ from sphinx.util.docutils import LoggingReporter
 from sphinx.versioning import UIDTransform
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from docutils import nodes
     from docutils.frontend import Values
     from docutils.parsers import Parser
     from docutils.transforms import Transform
@@ -191,8 +190,5 @@ def create_publisher(app: Sphinx, filetype: str) -> Publisher:
     # Propagate exceptions by default when used programmatically:
     defaults = {'traceback': True, **app.env.settings}
     # Set default settings
-    if docutils.__version_info__[:2] >= (0, 19):
-        pub.get_settings(**defaults)
-    else:
-        pub.settings = pub.setup_option_parser(**defaults).get_default_values()
+    pub.get_settings(**defaults)
     return pub
diff --git a/sphinx/util/docutils.py b/sphinx/util/docutils.py
index 32c303ed2..c1a5ae2e3 100644
--- a/sphinx/util/docutils.py
+++ b/sphinx/util/docutils.py
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ from docutils.parsers.rst import Directive, directives, roles
 from docutils.parsers.rst.states import Inliner  # NoQA: TCH002
 from docutils.statemachine import State, StateMachine, StringList
 from docutils.utils import Reporter, unescape
-from docutils.writers._html_base import HTMLTranslator
 
 from sphinx.errors import SphinxError
 from sphinx.locale import _, __
@@ -181,46 +180,12 @@ def using_user_docutils_conf(confdir: str | None) -> Iterator[None]:
             os.environ['DOCUTILSCONFIG'] = docutilsconfig
 
 
-@contextmanager
-def du19_footnotes() -> Iterator[None]:
-    def visit_footnote(self: HTMLTranslator, node: Element) -> None:
-        label_style = self.settings.footnote_references
-        if not isinstance(node.previous_sibling(), type(node)):
-            self.body.append(f'<aside class="footnote-list {label_style}">\n')
-        self.body.append(self.starttag(node, 'aside',
-                                       classes=[node.tagname, label_style],
-                                       role="note"))
-
-    def depart_footnote(self: HTMLTranslator, node: Element) -> None:
-        self.body.append('</aside>\n')
-        if not isinstance(node.next_node(descend=False, siblings=True),
-                          type(node)):
-            self.body.append('</aside>\n')
-
-    old_visit_footnote = HTMLTranslator.visit_footnote
-    old_depart_footnote = HTMLTranslator.depart_footnote
-
-    # Only apply on Docutils 0.18 or 0.18.1, as 0.17 and earlier used a <dl> based
-    # approach, and 0.19 and later use the fixed approach by default.
-    if docutils.__version_info__[:2] == (0, 18):
-        HTMLTranslator.visit_footnote = visit_footnote  # type: ignore[method-assign]
-        HTMLTranslator.depart_footnote = depart_footnote  # type: ignore[method-assign]
-
-    try:
-        yield
-    finally:
-        if docutils.__version_info__[:2] == (0, 18):
-            HTMLTranslator.visit_footnote = old_visit_footnote  # type: ignore[method-assign]
-            HTMLTranslator.depart_footnote = old_depart_footnote  # type: ignore[method-assign]
-
-
 @contextmanager
 def patch_docutils(confdir: str | None = None) -> Iterator[None]:
     """Patch to docutils temporarily."""
     with patched_get_language(), \
          patched_rst_get_language(), \
-         using_user_docutils_conf(confdir), \
-         du19_footnotes():
+         using_user_docutils_conf(confdir):
         yield