diff --git a/.go-version b/.go-version
index 6e83421e4fd..f7b31a92cdf 100644
--- a/.go-version
+++ b/.go-version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.21.6
\ No newline at end of file
+1.22rc1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/build/build-image/cross/VERSION b/build/build-image/cross/VERSION
index c30b6cb6d2a..d6c5e66c5c1 100644
--- a/build/build-image/cross/VERSION
+++ b/build/build-image/cross/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-v1.30.0-go1.21.6-bullseye.0
+v1.30.0-go1.22rc1-bullseye.0
diff --git a/build/common.sh b/build/common.sh
index bd6a01a2074..09c3616d13c 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=v0.4.4
-readonly __default_go_runner_version=v2.3.1-go1.21.6-bookworm.0
+readonly __default_go_runner_version=v2.3.1-go1.22rc1-bookworm.0
 readonly __default_setcap_version=bookworm-v1.0.0
 
 # These are the base images for the Docker-wrapped binaries.
diff --git a/hack/lib/golang.sh b/hack/lib/golang.sh
index c2bb930344b..e8efc69907c 100755
--- a/hack/lib/golang.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/golang.sh
@@ -497,6 +497,7 @@ EOF
   local go_version
   IFS=" " read -ra go_version <<< "$(GOFLAGS='' go version)"
   local minimum_go_version
+  # TODO: Update to go1.22 as soon we are ready to merge this
   minimum_go_version=go1.21
   if [[ "${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
diff --git a/staging/publishing/rules.yaml b/staging/publishing/rules.yaml
index c0e51d38aa2..e4b2cb856a8 100644
--- a/staging/publishing/rules.yaml
+++ b/staging/publishing/rules.yaml
@@ -2392,4 +2392,4 @@ rules:
       - staging/src/k8s.io/endpointslice
 recursive-delete-patterns:
 - '*/.gitattributes'
-default-go-version: 1.21.6
+default-go-version: 1.22rc1
diff --git a/test/images/Makefile b/test/images/Makefile
index 92e854649d5..9c386ff94c1 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=1.21.6
+GOLANG_VERSION=1.22rc1
 export
 
 ifndef WHAT