diff --git a/cmd/clusterctl/client/config/cert_manager_client.go b/cmd/clusterctl/client/config/cert_manager_client.go
index 8bb69dffd1ad..1e8e98916e0d 100644
--- a/cmd/clusterctl/client/config/cert_manager_client.go
+++ b/cmd/clusterctl/client/config/cert_manager_client.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ const (
 	CertManagerConfigKey = "cert-manager"
 
 	// CertManagerDefaultVersion defines the default cert-manager version to be used by clusterctl.
-	CertManagerDefaultVersion = "v1.16.0"
+	CertManagerDefaultVersion = "v1.16.1"
 
 	// CertManagerDefaultURL defines the default cert-manager repository url to be used by clusterctl.
 	// NOTE: At runtime CertManagerDefaultVersion may be replaced with the
diff --git a/docs/book/src/clusterctl/commands/init.md b/docs/book/src/clusterctl/commands/init.md
index 4da6bd02dd85..685abe7975ef 100644
--- a/docs/book/src/clusterctl/commands/init.md
+++ b/docs/book/src/clusterctl/commands/init.md
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ If this happens, there are no guarantees about the proper functioning of `cluste
 Cluster API providers require a cert-manager version supporting the `cert-manager.io/v1` API to be installed in the cluster.
 
 While doing init, clusterctl checks if there is a version of cert-manager already installed. If not, clusterctl will
-install a default version (currently cert-manager v1.16.0). See [clusterctl configuration](../configuration.md) for
+install a default version (currently cert-manager v1.16.1). See [clusterctl configuration](../configuration.md) for
 available options to customize this operation.
 
 <aside class="note warning">
diff --git a/docs/book/src/developer/getting-started.md b/docs/book/src/developer/getting-started.md
index f31c3b0ebfcf..7eef6ee8464f 100644
--- a/docs/book/src/developer/getting-started.md
+++ b/docs/book/src/developer/getting-started.md
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ The generated binary can be found at ./hack/tools/bin/envsubst
 You'll need to deploy [cert-manager] components on your [management cluster][mcluster], using `kubectl`
 
 ```bash
-kubectl apply -f https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/releases/download/v1.16.0/cert-manager.yaml
+kubectl apply -f https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/releases/download/v1.16.1/cert-manager.yaml
 ```
 
 Ensure the cert-manager webhook service is ready before creating the Cluster API components.
diff --git a/scripts/ci-e2e-lib.sh b/scripts/ci-e2e-lib.sh
index be5d46035b08..01123b50fa26 100644
--- a/scripts/ci-e2e-lib.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci-e2e-lib.sh
@@ -270,9 +270,9 @@ EOL
 # the actual test run less sensible to the network speed.
 kind:prepullAdditionalImages () {
   # Pulling cert manager images so we can pre-load in kind nodes
-  kind::prepullImage "quay.io/jetstack/cert-manager-cainjector:v1.16.0"
-  kind::prepullImage "quay.io/jetstack/cert-manager-webhook:v1.16.0"
-  kind::prepullImage "quay.io/jetstack/cert-manager-controller:v1.16.0"
+  kind::prepullImage "quay.io/jetstack/cert-manager-cainjector:v1.16.1"
+  kind::prepullImage "quay.io/jetstack/cert-manager-webhook:v1.16.1"
+  kind::prepullImage "quay.io/jetstack/cert-manager-controller:v1.16.1"
 }
 
 # kind:prepullImage pre-pull a docker image if no already present locally.
diff --git a/test/e2e/config/docker.yaml b/test/e2e/config/docker.yaml
index 27bf33ce54e9..b3a77db32745 100644
--- a/test/e2e/config/docker.yaml
+++ b/test/e2e/config/docker.yaml
@@ -23,11 +23,11 @@ images:
   loadBehavior: tryLoad
 - name: gcr.io/k8s-staging-cluster-api/test-extension-{ARCH}:dev
   loadBehavior: tryLoad
-- name: quay.io/jetstack/cert-manager-cainjector:v1.16.0
+- name: quay.io/jetstack/cert-manager-cainjector:v1.16.1
   loadBehavior: tryLoad
-- name: quay.io/jetstack/cert-manager-webhook:v1.16.0
+- name: quay.io/jetstack/cert-manager-webhook:v1.16.1
   loadBehavior: tryLoad
-- name: quay.io/jetstack/cert-manager-controller:v1.16.0
+- name: quay.io/jetstack/cert-manager-controller:v1.16.1
   loadBehavior: tryLoad
 
 providers: