diff --git a/.ci-operator.yaml b/.ci-operator.yaml
index 7e23a1e559..38718883ba 100644
--- a/.ci-operator.yaml
+++ b/.ci-operator.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 build_root_image:
   name: release
   namespace: openshift
-  tag: rhel-8-release-golang-1.20-openshift-4.16
+  tag: rhel-8-release-golang-1.21-openshift-4.16
diff --git a/Dockerfile.rhel b/Dockerfile.rhel
index 8079f53cc9..96c6597977 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.rhel
+++ b/Dockerfile.rhel
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 # Build the manager binary
-FROM registry.ci.openshift.org/ocp/builder:rhel-8-golang-1.20-openshift-4.16 AS builder
+FROM registry.ci.openshift.org/ocp/builder:rhel-8-golang-1.21-openshift-4.16 AS builder
 WORKDIR /workspace
 
 # Run this with docker build --build_arg goproxy=$(go env GOPROXY) to override the goproxy