diff --git a/package/AUTHORS b/package/AUTHORS
index 9728e7ac53..5871ec8f74 100644
--- a/package/AUTHORS
+++ b/package/AUTHORS
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ Chronological list of authors
 External code
 -------------
 
-External code (under a GPL-compatible licence) was obtained from
+External code (under a LGPL-compatible licence) was obtained from
 various sources. The authors (as far as we know them) are listed here.
 
 xdrfile
@@ -261,9 +261,9 @@ xdrfile
   The Gromacs libxdrfile (LGPL-licensed) was used before MDAnalysis
    version 0.8.0.
   Between MDAnalysis versions 0.8.0 and 0.13.0 libxdrfile was replaced by
-   libxdrfile2, our GPLv2 enhanced derivative of libxdrfile.
+   libxdrfile2, our LGPLv2.1+ enhanced derivative of libxdrfile.
   Since version 0.14.0 xdr enhanecments were rebased onto Gromacs'
-   xdrfile 1.1.4 code (now BSD-licensed). Our contributions remain GPLv2
+   xdrfile 1.1.4 code (now BSD-licensed). Our contributions remain LGPLv2.1+
    and were split into files xtc_seek.c, trr_seek.c, xtc_seek.h, and
    trr_seek.h, for clarity (xdrfile 1.1.4 code is distributed with minor
    modifications). Also for clarity we now name the resulting enhanced
diff --git a/package/README b/package/README
index 277c62dfed..baf0027cd4 100644
--- a/package/README
+++ b/package/README
@@ -34,8 +34,10 @@ This software is copyright
               listed in the file AUTHORS
 unless stated otherwise in the source files.
 
-MDAnalysis is released under the GPL software license, version 2, with
-the following exceptions (see AUTHORS and LICENSE for details):
+MDAnalysis is packaged under the GNU Lesser General Public License, version 3
+or any later version (LGPLv3+). Invidiual source code components are provided under the
+GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1 or any later version (LGPLv2.1+),
+with the following exceptions (see AUTHORS and LICENSE for details):
 
 - The DCD reading/writing code is licensed under the UIUC Open Source
   License.
diff --git a/package/doc/sphinx/source/documentation_pages/analysis/encore.rst b/package/doc/sphinx/source/documentation_pages/analysis/encore.rst
index d4da461260..ee165ae755 100644
--- a/package/doc/sphinx/source/documentation_pages/analysis/encore.rst
+++ b/package/doc/sphinx/source/documentation_pages/analysis/encore.rst
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 :Author: Matteo Tiberti, Wouter Boomsma, Tone Bengtsen
 :Year: 2015-2017
-:Copyright: GNU Public License v3
+:Copyright: Lesser GNU Public License v2.1+
 :Maintainer: Matteo Tiberti <matteo.tiberti@gmail.com>, mtiberti on github
 
 .. versionadded:: 0.16.0
diff --git a/package/doc/sphinx/source/documentation_pages/analysis/hole2.rst b/package/doc/sphinx/source/documentation_pages/analysis/hole2.rst
index 1d8b962a17..6c49fdfff6 100644
--- a/package/doc/sphinx/source/documentation_pages/analysis/hole2.rst
+++ b/package/doc/sphinx/source/documentation_pages/analysis/hole2.rst
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 :Author: Lily Wang
 :Year: 2020
-:Copyright: GNU Public License v3
+:Copyright: Lesser GNU Public License v2.1+
 
 .. versionadded:: 1.0.0
 
diff --git a/package/doc/sphinx/source/index.rst b/package/doc/sphinx/source/index.rst
index 29e800d6a5..f0aaa5334e 100644
--- a/package/doc/sphinx/source/index.rst
+++ b/package/doc/sphinx/source/index.rst
@@ -141,8 +141,8 @@ Source Code
 
 **Source code** is available from
 https://github.com/MDAnalysis/mdanalysis/ and is packaged under the
-`GNU Public Licence, version 3 or any later version`_. Individual components
-of the source code are provided under GPL compatible licenses, details can be
+`Lesser GNU Public Licence, version 3 or any later version`_. Individual components
+of the source code are provided under LGPL compatible licenses, details can be
 found in the `MDAnalysis license file`_. Obtain the sources with `git`_.
 
 .. code-block:: bash
@@ -153,8 +153,8 @@ found in the `MDAnalysis license file`_. Obtain the sources with `git`_.
 The `User Guide`_ provides more information on how to
 `install the development version`_ of MDAnalysis.
 
-.. _GNU Public Licence, version 3 or any later version:
-   https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html
+.. _Lesser GNU Public Licence, version 3 or any later version:
+   https://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-3.0.en.html
 .. _MDAnalysis license file:
    https://github.com/MDAnalysis/mdanalysis/blob/develop/LICENSE
 .. _git: https://git-scm.com/
diff --git a/package/pyproject.toml b/package/pyproject.toml
index cd7ec3a780..4dc2275df4 100644
--- a/package/pyproject.toml
+++ b/package/pyproject.toml
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ classifiers = [
     'Development Status :: 6 - Mature',
     'Environment :: Console',
     'Intended Audience :: Science/Research',
-    'License :: OSI Approved :: GNU General Public License v3 or later (GPLv3+)',
+    'License :: OSI Approved :: GNU Lesser General Public License v3 or later (LGPLv3+)',
     'Operating System :: POSIX',
     'Operating System :: MacOS :: MacOS X',
     'Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows',