diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-ci-reusable.yml b/.github/workflows/test-ci-reusable.yml
index 860971ac..0eefabd1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-ci-reusable.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-ci-reusable.yml
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ jobs:
         ref: ${{ inputs.ref }}
     - uses: actions/setup-go@v4
       with:
-        go-version: '1.20.*'
+        go-version: '1.21.*'
     - name: Run controller tests
       run: make test-envtest
     - name: Set latest commit status as ${{ job.status }}
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index d62951b6..daee119a 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # Build the manager binary
-FROM docker.io/library/golang:1.20 as builder
+FROM docker.io/library/golang:1.21 as builder
 ARG TARGETOS
 ARG TARGETARCH
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 69e03e0a..acd009cf 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ kubectl get secret ${CRYOSTAT_NAME}-jmx-auth -o jsonpath='{$.data.CRYOSTAT_RJMX_
 
 # Building
 ## Requirements
-- `go` v1.20
+- `go` v1.21
 - [`operator-sdk`](https://github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk) v1.31.0
 - [`cert-manager`](https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager) v1.11.5+ (Recommended)
 - `podman` or `docker`
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index b9e11167..db9c8957 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module github.com/cryostatio/cryostat-operator
 
-go 1.20
+go 1.21
 
 require (
 	github.com/blang/semver/v4 v4.0.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index d6c3e38d..0460050f 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -287,6 +287,7 @@ github.com/stretchr/testify v1.5.1/go.mod h1:5W2xD1RspED5o8YsWQXVCued0rvSQ+mT+I5
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.6.1/go.mod h1:6Fq8oRcR53rry900zMqJjRRixrwX3KX962/h/Wwjteg=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.0/go.mod h1:6Fq8oRcR53rry900zMqJjRRixrwX3KX962/h/Wwjteg=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.1 h1:w7B6lhMri9wdJUVmEZPGGhZzrYTPvgJArz7wNPgYKsk=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.1/go.mod h1:w2LPCIKwWwSfY2zedu0+kehJoqGctiVI29o6fzry7u4=
 github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonpointer v0.0.0-20180127040702-4e3ac2762d5f/go.mod h1:N2zxlSyiKSe5eX1tZViRH5QA0qijqEDrYZiPEAiq3wU=
 github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonreference v0.0.0-20180127040603-bd5ef7bd5415/go.mod h1:GwrjFmJcFw6At/Gs6z4yjiIwzuJ1/+UwLxMQDVQXShQ=
 github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonschema v1.2.0/go.mod h1:anYRn/JVcOK2ZgGU+IjEV4nwlhoK5sQluxsYJ78Id3Y=
@@ -305,6 +306,7 @@ go.uber.org/atomic v1.9.0 h1:ECmE8Bn/WFTYwEW/bpKD3M8VtR/zQVbavAoalC1PYyE=
 go.uber.org/atomic v1.9.0/go.mod h1:fEN4uk6kAWBTFdckzkM89CLk9XfWZrxpCo0nPH17wJc=
 go.uber.org/goleak v1.1.10/go.mod h1:8a7PlsEVH3e/a/GLqe5IIrQx6GzcnRmZEufDUTk4A7A=
 go.uber.org/goleak v1.2.0 h1:xqgm/S+aQvhWFTtR0XK3Jvg7z8kGV8P4X14IzwN3Eqk=
+go.uber.org/goleak v1.2.0/go.mod h1:XJYK+MuIchqpmGmUSAzotztawfKvYLUIgg7guXrwVUo=
 go.uber.org/multierr v1.6.0 h1:y6IPFStTAIT5Ytl7/XYmHvzXQ7S3g/IeZW9hyZ5thw4=
 go.uber.org/multierr v1.6.0/go.mod h1:cdWPpRnG4AhwMwsgIHip0KRBQjJy5kYEpYjJxpXp9iU=
 go.uber.org/zap v1.19.0/go.mod h1:xg/QME4nWcxGxrpdeYfq7UvYrLh66cuVKdrbD1XF/NI=
diff --git a/internal/images/custom-scorecard-tests/Dockerfile b/internal/images/custom-scorecard-tests/Dockerfile
index 101f5efd..2dc8ec4d 100644
--- a/internal/images/custom-scorecard-tests/Dockerfile
+++ b/internal/images/custom-scorecard-tests/Dockerfile
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 # Build the manager binary
-FROM docker.io/library/golang:1.20 as builder
+FROM docker.io/library/golang:1.21 as builder
 ARG TARGETOS
 ARG TARGETARCH