diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 2e74400593..adeba53ff8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ REPO_PATH   ?= sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-aws
 LD_FLAGS    ?= -X $(REPO_PATH)/pkg/version.Raw=$(VERSION) -extldflags "-static"
 MUTABLE_TAG ?= latest
 IMAGE        = origin-aws-machine-controllers
+BUILD_IMAGE ?= openshift/origin-release:golang-1.16
 
 # race tests need CGO_ENABLED, everything else should have it disabled
 CGO_ENABLED = 0
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@ ifeq ($(NO_DOCKER), 1)
   DOCKER_CMD =
   IMAGE_BUILD_CMD = imagebuilder
 else
-  DOCKER_CMD = $(ENGINE) run --rm -e CGO_ENABLED=$(CGO_ENABLED) -e GOARCH=$(GOARCH) -e GOOS=$(GOOS) -v "$(PWD)":/go/src/sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-aws:Z -w /go/src/sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-aws openshift/origin-release:golang-1.16
+  DOCKER_CMD = $(ENGINE) run --rm -e CGO_ENABLED=$(CGO_ENABLED) -e GOARCH=$(GOARCH) -e GOOS=$(GOOS) -v "$(PWD)":/go/src/sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-aws:Z -w /go/src/sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-aws $(BUILD_IMAGE)
   IMAGE_BUILD_CMD = $(ENGINE) build
 endif
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 7d4acd9674..204ad71f65 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-aws
 
-go 1.16
+go 1.17
 
 require (
 	github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go v1.38.23