diff --git a/.go-version b/.go-version
index e4a973f91..2f4320f67 100644
--- a/.go-version
+++ b/.go-version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.24.2
+1.24.4
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7f287e38a..2ae028654 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ out-of-tree plugins.
 To compile CoreDNS, we assume you have a working Go setup. See various tutorials if you don’t have
 that already configured.
 
-First, make sure your golang version is 1.21 or higher as `go mod` support and other api is needed.
+First, make sure your golang version is 1.23.0 or higher as `go mod` support and other api is needed.
 See [here](https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/Modules) for `go mod` details.
 Then, check out the project and run `make` to compile the binary:
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 9c06d6ef2..3dd2dad01 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 module github.com/coredns/coredns
 
+// Note this minimum version requirement. CoreDNS supports the last two
+// Go versions. This follows the upstream Go project support.
 go 1.23.0
 
-toolchain go1.24.2
-
 require (
 	github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-go v68.0.0+incompatible
 	github.com/Azure/go-autorest/autorest v0.11.30
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/DataDog/datadog-go/v5 v5.6.0 // indirect
 	github.com/DataDog/go-libddwaf/v3 v3.5.3 // indirect
 	github.com/DataDog/go-runtime-metrics-internal v0.0.4-0.20241206090539-a14610dc22b6 // indirect
-	github.com/DataDog/go-sqllexer v0.1.0 // indirect
+	github.com/DataDog/go-sqllexer v0.1.6 // indirect
 	github.com/DataDog/go-tuf v1.1.0-0.5.2 // indirect
 	github.com/DataDog/opentelemetry-mapping-go/pkg/otlp/attributes v0.26.0 // indirect
 	github.com/DataDog/sketches-go v1.4.7 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 9bda5d353..0f1b488b6 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ github.com/DataDog/go-libddwaf/v3 v3.5.3 h1:UzIUhr/9SnRpDkxE18VeU6Fu4HiDv9yIR5R3
 github.com/DataDog/go-libddwaf/v3 v3.5.3/go.mod h1:HoLUHdj0NybsPBth/UppTcg8/DKA4g+AXuk8cZ6nuoo=
 github.com/DataDog/go-runtime-metrics-internal v0.0.4-0.20241206090539-a14610dc22b6 h1:bpitH5JbjBhfcTG+H2RkkiUXpYa8xSuIPnyNtTaSPog=
 github.com/DataDog/go-runtime-metrics-internal v0.0.4-0.20241206090539-a14610dc22b6/go.mod h1:quaQJ+wPN41xEC458FCpTwyROZm3MzmTZ8q8XOXQiPs=
-github.com/DataDog/go-sqllexer v0.1.0 h1:QGBH68R4PFYGUbZjNjsT4ESHCIhO9Mmiz+SMKI7DzaY=
-github.com/DataDog/go-sqllexer v0.1.0/go.mod h1:KwkYhpFEVIq+BfobkTC1vfqm4gTi65skV/DpDBXtexc=
+github.com/DataDog/go-sqllexer v0.1.6 h1:skEXpWEVCpeZFIiydoIa2f2rf+ymNpjiIMqpW4w3YAk=
+github.com/DataDog/go-sqllexer v0.1.6/go.mod h1:GGpo1h9/BVSN+6NJKaEcJ9Jn44Hqc63Rakeb+24Mjgo=
 github.com/DataDog/go-tuf v1.1.0-0.5.2 h1:4CagiIekonLSfL8GMHRHcHudo1fQnxELS9g4tiAupQ4=
 github.com/DataDog/go-tuf v1.1.0-0.5.2/go.mod h1:zBcq6f654iVqmkk8n2Cx81E1JnNTMOAx1UEO/wZR+P0=
 github.com/DataDog/gostackparse v0.7.0 h1:i7dLkXHvYzHV308hnkvVGDL3BR4FWl7IsXNPz/IGQh4=