diff --git a/.ci-operator.yaml b/.ci-operator.yaml
index e2fbe8182..a83f0f843 100644
--- a/.ci-operator.yaml
+++ b/.ci-operator.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 build_root_image:
   name: release
   namespace: openshift
-  tag: rhel-9-release-golang-1.20-openshift-4.16
+  tag: rhel-9-release-golang-1.21-openshift-4.16
diff --git a/Dockerfile.rhel b/Dockerfile.rhel
index e9642a223..a49416929 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.rhel
+++ b/Dockerfile.rhel
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM registry.ci.openshift.org/ocp/builder:rhel-9-golang-1.20-openshift-4.16 AS builder
+FROM registry.ci.openshift.org/ocp/builder:rhel-9-golang-1.21-openshift-4.16 AS builder
 WORKDIR /go/src/github.com/openshift/machine-api-provider-gcp
 COPY . .
 # VERSION env gets set in the openshift/release image and refers to the golang version, which interfers with our own