diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
index cfda8a3fa..f9a494334 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
+++ b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 	"features": {
 		"ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/docker-in-docker:2": {},
 		"ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/go:1": {
-			"version": "1.20"
+			"version": "1.21"
 		}
 	},
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-test-images.yml b/.github/workflows/build-test-images.yml
index a89ec781c..99f940c8d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-test-images.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-test-images.yml
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/setup-go@v3
         with:
-          go-version: "1.20.7"
+          go-version: "1.21.0"
 
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index f98f0afed..b750f22a5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ on:
 env:
   # Go version we currently use to build containerd across all CI.
   # Note: don't forget to update `Binaries` step, as it contains the matrix of all supported Go versions.
-  GO_VERSION: "1.20.7"
+  GO_VERSION: "1.21.0"
 
 permissions: # added using https://github.com/step-security/secure-workflows
   contents: read
@@ -203,13 +203,13 @@ jobs:
   binaries:
     name: Binaries
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
-    timeout-minutes: 10
+    timeout-minutes: 20
     needs: [project, linters, protos, man]
 
     strategy:
       matrix:
         os: [ubuntu-22.04, macos-12, windows-2019, windows-2022]
-        go-version: ["1.20.7", "1.19.12"]
+        go-version: ["1.20.7", "1.21.0"]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/setup-go@v4
         with:
@@ -218,6 +218,12 @@ jobs:
 
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
+      # NOTE(aznashwan): starting with Golang 1.21, the windows-2019 GitHub runner's
+      # builtin MinGW version leads to DLL loading errors during runtime.
+      - name: Upgrade MinGW on Windows 2019
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-2019'
+        run: choco upgrade mingw
+
       - name: Make
         run: |
           make build
@@ -269,6 +275,12 @@ jobs:
 
       - run: script/setup/install-dev-tools
 
+      # NOTE(aznashwan): starting with Golang 1.21, the windows-2019 GitHub runner's
+      # builtin MinGW version leads to DLL loading errors during runtime.
+      - name: Upgrade MinGW on Windows 2019
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-2019'
+        run: choco upgrade mingw
+
       - name: Binaries
         env:
           CGO_ENABLED: 1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/codeql.yml b/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
index c481f2d5b..13e5392c0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - uses: actions/setup-go@v3
         with:
-          go-version: 1.20.7
+          go-version: 1.21.0
 
       # Initializes the CodeQL tools for scanning.
       - name: Initialize CodeQL
diff --git a/.github/workflows/fuzz.yml b/.github/workflows/fuzz.yml
index 7c84dd60d..a4405daca 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/fuzz.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/fuzz.yml
@@ -4,33 +4,49 @@ permissions:  # added using https://github.com/step-security/secure-workflows
   contents: read
 
 jobs:
-  # Run all fuzzing tests. Some of them use Go 1.18's testing.F.
-  # Others use https://github.com/AdaLogics/go-fuzz-headers.
-  ci_fuzz:
-    name: CI Fuzz
-    if: github.repository == 'containerd/containerd'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 60
-    steps:
-    - name: Build Fuzzers
-      id: build
-      uses: google/oss-fuzz/infra/cifuzz/actions/build_fuzzers@master
-      with:
-        oss-fuzz-project-name: 'containerd'
-        language: go
-    - name: Run Fuzzers
-      uses: google/oss-fuzz/infra/cifuzz/actions/run_fuzzers@master
-      with:
-        oss-fuzz-project-name: 'containerd'
-        fuzz-seconds: 300
-        language: go
-      continue-on-error: true
-    - name: Upload Crash
-      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v1
-      if: failure() && steps.build.outcome == 'success'
-      with:
-        name: artifacts
-        path: ./out/artifacts
+# ci_fuzz is temporarily disabled as it is not compatible with recent Go:
+#
+#####
+# >github.com/containerd/containerd/contrib/apparmor
+# >github.com/containerd/containerd/contrib/apparmor
+# >Running go-fuzz -tags gofuzz -func FuzzLoadDefaultProfile -o fuzz_FuzzLoadDefaultProfile.a github.com/containerd/containerd/contrib/apparmor
+# >/usr/bin/ld: /usr/bin/ld: DWARF error: invalid or unhandled FORM value: 0x25
+# >fuzz_FuzzLoadDefaultProfile.a(000021.o): in function `_cgo_9c8efe9babca_C2func_res_search':
+# >cgo_unix_cgo_res.cgo2.c:(.text+0x32): undefined reference to `__res_search'
+# >/usr/bin/ld: fuzz_FuzzLoadDefaultProfile.a(000021.o): in function `_cgo_9c8efe9babca_Cfunc_res_search':
+# >cgo_unix_cgo_res.cgo2.c:(.text+0x81): undefined reference to `__res_search'
+# >clang-15: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
+# >2023-08-11 14:25:45,433 - root - ERROR - Building fuzzers failed.
+# >2023-08-11 14:25:45,433 - root - ERROR - Error building fuzzers for (commit: 432d86b87f75cc8ddf8f8101a5540eb206ffc894, pr_ref: refs/pull/8957/merge).
+#####
+#
+#  # Run all fuzzing tests. Some of them use Go 1.18's testing.F.
+#  # Others use https://github.com/AdaLogics/go-fuzz-headers.
+#  ci_fuzz:
+#    name: CI Fuzz
+#    if: github.repository == 'containerd/containerd'
+#    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+#    timeout-minutes: 60
+#    steps:
+#    - name: Build Fuzzers
+#      id: build
+#      uses: google/oss-fuzz/infra/cifuzz/actions/build_fuzzers@master
+#      with:
+#        oss-fuzz-project-name: 'containerd'
+#        language: go
+#    - name: Run Fuzzers
+#      uses: google/oss-fuzz/infra/cifuzz/actions/run_fuzzers@master
+#      with:
+#        oss-fuzz-project-name: 'containerd'
+#        fuzz-seconds: 300
+#        language: go
+#      continue-on-error: true
+#    - name: Upload Crash
+#      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v1
+#      if: failure() && steps.build.outcome == 'success'
+#      with:
+#        name: artifacts
+#        path: ./out/artifacts
 
   # Make sure all fuzzing tests which use Go 1.18's testing.F are
   # runnable with go test -fuzz.
@@ -42,8 +58,6 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/setup-go@v3
         with:
-          # FIXME: go-fuzz fails with Go 1.20: `cgo_unix_cgo_res.cgo2.c:(.text+0x32): undefined reference to `__res_search'`
-          # https://github.com/containerd/containerd/pull/8103#issuecomment-1429256152
-          go-version: 1.18
+          go-version: 1.21.x
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
       - run: script/go-test-fuzz.sh
diff --git a/.github/workflows/images.yml b/.github/workflows/images.yml
index c63f178c5..3d39392b2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/images.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/images.yml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/setup-go@v3
         with:
-          go-version: "1.20.7"
+          go-version: "1.21.0"
 
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/nightly.yml b/.github/workflows/nightly.yml
index 5381c5933..d256a501f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/nightly.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/nightly.yml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ on:
       - ".github/workflows/nightly.yml"
 
 env:
-  GO_VERSION: "1.20.7"
+  GO_VERSION: "1.21.0"
 
 permissions: # added using https://github.com/step-security/secure-workflows
   contents: read
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index ceac65c8f..8e481ce19 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ on:
 name: Release
 
 env:
-  GO_VERSION: "1.20.7"
+  GO_VERSION: "1.21.0"
 
 permissions: # added using https://github.com/step-security/secure-workflows
   contents: read
diff --git a/BUILDING.md b/BUILDING.md
index a2f71991e..9efc1881a 100644
--- a/BUILDING.md
+++ b/BUILDING.md
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ A codespace will open in a web-based version of Visual Studio Code. The [dev con
 
 To build the `containerd` daemon, and the `ctr` simple test client, the following build system dependencies are required:
 
-* Go 1.19.x or above
+* Go 1.20.x or above
 * Protoc 3.x compiler and headers (download at the [Google protobuf releases page](https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases))
 * Btrfs headers and libraries for your distribution. Note that building the btrfs driver can be disabled via the build tag `no_btrfs`, removing this dependency.
 
diff --git a/Vagrantfile b/Vagrantfile
index 42a96c2ca..23675a81f 100644
--- a/Vagrantfile
+++ b/Vagrantfile
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ EOF
   config.vm.provision "install-golang", type: "shell", run: "once" do |sh|
     sh.upload_path = "/tmp/vagrant-install-golang"
     sh.env = {
-        'GO_VERSION': ENV['GO_VERSION'] || "1.20.7",
+        'GO_VERSION': ENV['GO_VERSION'] || "1.21.0",
     }
     sh.inline = <<~SHELL
         #!/usr/bin/env bash
diff --git a/contrib/Dockerfile.test b/contrib/Dockerfile.test
index 834d705da..b04217573 100644
--- a/contrib/Dockerfile.test
+++ b/contrib/Dockerfile.test
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #   docker run --privileged containerd-test
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-ARG GOLANG_VERSION=1.20.7
+ARG GOLANG_VERSION=1.21.0
 ARG GOLANG_IMAGE=golang
 
 FROM ${GOLANG_IMAGE}:${GOLANG_VERSION} AS golang
diff --git a/contrib/apparmor/apparmor.go b/contrib/apparmor/apparmor.go
index 56454ab93..12ff0c472 100644
--- a/contrib/apparmor/apparmor.go
+++ b/contrib/apparmor/apparmor.go
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ func WithProfile(profile string) oci.SpecOpts {
 
 // WithDefaultProfile will generate a default apparmor profile under the provided name
 // for the container.  It is only generated if a profile under that name does not exist.
+//
+// FIXME: pkg/cri/[sb]server/container_create_linux_test.go depends on go:noinline
+// since Go 1.21.
+//
+//go:noinline
 func WithDefaultProfile(name string) oci.SpecOpts {
 	return func(_ context.Context, _ oci.Client, _ *containers.Container, s *specs.Spec) error {
 		if err := LoadDefaultProfile(name); err != nil {
diff --git a/contrib/fuzz/oss_fuzz_build.sh b/contrib/fuzz/oss_fuzz_build.sh
index d8c03c858..ef1457a94 100755
--- a/contrib/fuzz/oss_fuzz_build.sh
+++ b/contrib/fuzz/oss_fuzz_build.sh
@@ -43,11 +43,11 @@ go run main.go $SRC/containerd/images
 
 apt-get update && apt-get install -y wget
 cd $SRC
-wget --quiet https://go.dev/dl/go1.19.5.linux-amd64.tar.gz
+wget --quiet https://go.dev/dl/go1.21.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz
 
 mkdir temp-go
 rm -rf /root/.go/*
-tar -C temp-go/ -xzf go1.19.5.linux-amd64.tar.gz
+tar -C temp-go/ -xzf go1.21.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz
 mv temp-go/go/* /root/.go/
 cd $SRC/containerd
 
diff --git a/contrib/seccomp/seccomp.go b/contrib/seccomp/seccomp.go
index 5292cbcec..becf08988 100644
--- a/contrib/seccomp/seccomp.go
+++ b/contrib/seccomp/seccomp.go
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ import (
 // WithProfile receives the name of a file stored on disk comprising a json
 // formatted seccomp profile, as specified by the opencontainers/runtime-spec.
 // The profile is read from the file, unmarshaled, and set to the spec.
+//
+// FIXME: pkg/cri/[sb]server/container_create_linux_test.go depends on go:noinline
+// since Go 1.21.
+//
+//go:noinline
 func WithProfile(profile string) oci.SpecOpts {
 	return func(_ context.Context, _ oci.Client, _ *containers.Container, s *specs.Spec) error {
 		s.Linux.Seccomp = &specs.LinuxSeccomp{}
@@ -46,6 +51,11 @@ func WithProfile(profile string) oci.SpecOpts {
 
 // WithDefaultProfile sets the default seccomp profile to the spec.
 // Note: must follow the setting of process capabilities
+//
+// FIXME: pkg/cri/[sb]server/container_create_linux_test.go depends on go:noinline
+// since Go 1.21.
+//
+//go:noinline
 func WithDefaultProfile() oci.SpecOpts {
 	return func(_ context.Context, _ oci.Client, _ *containers.Container, s *specs.Spec) error {
 		s.Linux.Seccomp = DefaultProfile(s)
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 363964124..e1c9912e0 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module github.com/containerd/containerd
 
-go 1.19
+go 1.20
 
 require (
 	dario.cat/mergo v1.0.0
diff --git a/script/setup/prepare_env_windows.ps1 b/script/setup/prepare_env_windows.ps1
index b0dbcd71a..0885c6e53 100644
--- a/script/setup/prepare_env_windows.ps1
+++ b/script/setup/prepare_env_windows.ps1
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 # lived test environment.
 Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring:$true
 
-$PACKAGES= @{ mingw = "10.2.0"; git = ""; golang = "1.20.7"; make = ""; nssm = "" }
+$PACKAGES= @{ mingw = "10.2.0"; git = ""; golang = "1.21.0"; make = ""; nssm = "" }
 
 Write-Host "Downloading chocolatey package"
 curl.exe -L "https://packages.chocolatey.org/chocolatey.0.10.15.nupkg" -o 'c:\choco.zip'