diff --git a/.go-version b/.go-version
index 6597009a067..e4264e9848d 100644
--- a/.go-version
+++ b/.go-version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.20.7
\ No newline at end of file
+1.21.0
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/build/build-image/cross/VERSION b/build/build-image/cross/VERSION
index 48720f3a4b4..079d2dd1804 100644
--- a/build/build-image/cross/VERSION
+++ b/build/build-image/cross/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-v1.27.0-go1.20.7-bullseye.0
+v1.29.0-go1.21.0-bullseye.0
diff --git a/build/common.sh b/build/common.sh
index db7745bb39d..d776ccdfde8 100755
--- a/build/common.sh
+++ b/build/common.sh
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ readonly KUBE_CONTAINER_RSYNC_PORT=8730
 
 # These are the default versions (image tags) for their respective base images.
 readonly __default_distroless_iptables_version=v0.3.1
-readonly __default_go_runner_version=v2.3.1-go1.20.7-bullseye.0
+readonly __default_go_runner_version=v2.3.1-go1.21.0-bookworm.0
 readonly __default_setcap_version=bookworm-v1.0.0
 
 # These are the base images for the Docker-wrapped binaries.
diff --git a/build/dependencies.yaml b/build/dependencies.yaml
index 4d47fb17bb4..b20ffbad31b 100644
--- a/build/dependencies.yaml
+++ b/build/dependencies.yaml
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ dependencies:
 
   # Golang
   - name: "golang: upstream version"
-    version: 1.20.7
+    version: 1.21.0
     refPaths:
     - path: .go-version
     - path: build/build-image/cross/VERSION
@@ -131,14 +131,14 @@ dependencies:
   # This entry is a stub of the major version to allow dependency checks to
   # pass when building Kubernetes using a pre-release of Golang.
   - name: "golang: 1.<major>"
-    version: 1.20
+    version: 1.21
     refPaths:
     - path: build/build-image/cross/VERSION
     - path: hack/lib/golang.sh
       match: minimum_go_version=go([0-9]+\.[0-9]+)
 
   - name: "registry.k8s.io/kube-cross: dependents"
-    version: v1.27.0-go1.20.7-bullseye.0
+    version: v1.29.0-go1.21.0-bullseye.0
     refPaths:
     - path: build/build-image/cross/VERSION
 
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ dependencies:
       match: configs\[DistrolessIptables\] = Config{list\.BuildImageRegistry, "distroless-iptables", "v([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)"}
 
   - name: "registry.k8s.io/go-runner: dependents"
-    version: v2.3.1-go1.20.7-bullseye.0
+    version: v2.3.1-go1.21.0-bookworm.0
     refPaths:
     - path: build/common.sh
       match: __default_go_runner_version=
diff --git a/hack/lib/golang.sh b/hack/lib/golang.sh
index 983ff368e25..95b25678725 100755
--- a/hack/lib/golang.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/golang.sh
@@ -486,7 +486,7 @@ EOF
   local go_version
   IFS=" " read -ra go_version <<< "$(GOFLAGS='' go version)"
   local minimum_go_version
-  minimum_go_version=go1.20
+  minimum_go_version=go1.21
   if [[ "${minimum_go_version}" != $(echo -e "${minimum_go_version}\n${go_version[2]}" | sort -s -t. -k 1,1 -k 2,2n -k 3,3n | head -n1) && "${go_version[2]}" != "devel" ]]; then
     kube::log::usage_from_stdin <<EOF
 Detected go version: ${go_version[*]}.
diff --git a/staging/publishing/rules.yaml b/staging/publishing/rules.yaml
index 1a0d5dae43f..a22c4b56dd4 100644
--- a/staging/publishing/rules.yaml
+++ b/staging/publishing/rules.yaml
@@ -2186,4 +2186,4 @@ rules:
       dir: staging/src/k8s.io/endpointslice
 recursive-delete-patterns:
 - '*/.gitattributes'
-default-go-version: 1.20.7
+default-go-version: 1.21.0
diff --git a/test/images/Makefile b/test/images/Makefile
index 33aa2df5a55..e101e5c48af 100644
--- a/test/images/Makefile
+++ b/test/images/Makefile
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ REGISTRY ?= registry.k8s.io/e2e-test-images
 GOARM ?= 7
 DOCKER_CERT_BASE_PATH ?=
 QEMUVERSION=v5.1.0-2
-GOLANG_VERSION=1.20.7
+GOLANG_VERSION=1.21.0
 export
 
 ifndef WHAT