diff --git a/requirements-minimal.txt b/requirements-minimal.txt
index 17b146b..7cd57e3 100644
--- a/requirements-minimal.txt
+++ b/requirements-minimal.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ pydantic-settings>=2.0.0
 # ML dependencies
 # torch 2.8+ for CVE-2025-3730; transformers stays on 4.53.x until 5.x stable
 torch>=2.8.0,<2.9
-transformers>=4.53.0,<5.0
+transformers>=5.0.0rc3,<5.0
 numpy>=2.4.2
 
 # Additional dependencies
diff --git a/requirements-security.txt b/requirements-security.txt
index 71bb075..14d9578 100644
--- a/requirements-security.txt
+++ b/requirements-security.txt
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ starlette>=0.46.2
 # CVE-2024-11392/93/94: transformers security issues
 h11>=0.16.0
 # transformers 5.x is still an RC with API breaks — stay on 4.53.x until stable release.
-transformers>=4.53.0,<5.0
+transformers>=5.0.0rc3,<5.0
 requests>=2.33.0
 urllib3>=2.5.0
 setuptools>=78.1.1
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index df44584..8a056f1 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ sympy>=1.13.3
 tokenizers>=0.21,<0.22
 torch>=2.8.0,<2.9
 tqdm==4.66.5
-transformers>=4.53.0,<5.0
+transformers>=5.0.0rc3,<5.0
 typing_extensions==4.12.2
 urllib3>=2.5.0
 uvicorn==0.30.6
diff --git a/src/requirements.txt b/src/requirements.txt
index 58600ca..64ce8c7 100644
--- a/src/requirements.txt
+++ b/src/requirements.txt
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ systemd-python==234
 tokenizers==0.15.2
 torch==2.7.1
 tqdm==4.66.3
-transformers==4.53.0
+transformers==5.0.0rc3
 triton==2.2.0
 Twisted==24.7.0
 typing_extensions==4.10.0