diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-pr-checks.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci-pr-checks.yaml
index ccbdf1e05..1bef9856a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-pr-checks.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-pr-checks.yaml
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run lint checks
         uses: golangci/golangci-lint-action@v9
         with:
-          version: "v2.1.6"
+          version: "v2.8.0"
           args: "--config=./.golangci.yml"
           skip-cache: true
         env:
diff --git a/Dockerfile.epp b/Dockerfile.epp
index 4996c6fbe..906c27fed 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.epp
+++ b/Dockerfile.epp
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ## Minimal runtime Dockerfile (microdnf-only, no torch, wrapper in site-packages)
 # Go dependencies stage: download go modules and extract kv-cache
-FROM quay.io/projectquay/golang:1.24 AS go-deps
+FROM quay.io/projectquay/golang:1.25 AS go-deps
 
 WORKDIR /workspace
 
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ RUN python3.12 -m venv /workspace/kv-cache/build/venv && \
     fi
 
 # Go build stage
-FROM quay.io/projectquay/golang:1.24 AS go-builder
+FROM quay.io/projectquay/golang:1.25 AS go-builder
 
 ARG TARGETOS
 ARG TARGETARCH
diff --git a/Dockerfile.sidecar b/Dockerfile.sidecar
index 164e5e624..9c9e747e2 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.sidecar
+++ b/Dockerfile.sidecar
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-# Build Stage: using Go 1.24 image
-FROM quay.io/projectquay/golang:1.24 AS builder
+# Build Stage: using Go 1.25 image
+FROM quay.io/projectquay/golang:1.25 AS builder
 ARG TARGETOS
 ARG TARGETARCH
 ARG COMMIT_SHA=unknown
diff --git a/Makefile.tools.mk b/Makefile.tools.mk
index 7bf41b369..5263a7cac 100644
--- a/Makefile.tools.mk
+++ b/Makefile.tools.mk
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ TOKENIZER_LIB = $(LOCALLIB)/libtokenizers.a
 
 ## Tool fixed versions.
 GINKGO_VERSION ?= v2.27.2
-GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION ?= v2.1.6
+GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION ?= v2.8.0
 KUSTOMIZE_VERSION ?= v5.5.0
 TYPOS_VERSION ?= v1.34.0
 VLLM_VERSION ?= 0.14.0
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 57c502280..888b312d0 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 module github.com/llm-d/llm-d-inference-scheduler
 
-go 1.24.9
-
-toolchain go1.24.12
+go 1.25.7
 
 require (
 	github.com/go-logr/logr v1.4.3
diff --git a/pkg/plugins/filter/by_label_selector_test.go b/pkg/plugins/filter/by_label_selector_test.go
index 0d7947f09..eeee954ff 100644
--- a/pkg/plugins/filter/by_label_selector_test.go
+++ b/pkg/plugins/filter/by_label_selector_test.go
@@ -302,9 +302,9 @@ func TestByLabelSelectorFiltering(t *testing.T) {
 
 			filteredEndpoints := blf.Filter(ctx, nil, nil, endpoints)
 
-			var actualEndpointNames []string
-			for _, endpoint := range filteredEndpoints {
-				actualEndpointNames = append(actualEndpointNames, endpoint.GetMetadata().NamespacedName.Name)
+			actualEndpointNames := make([]string, len(filteredEndpoints))
+			for idx, endpoint := range filteredEndpoints {
+				actualEndpointNames[idx] = endpoint.GetMetadata().NamespacedName.Name
 			}
 
 			assert.ElementsMatch(t, tt.expectedPods, actualEndpointNames,
diff --git a/pkg/plugins/filter/by_label_test.go b/pkg/plugins/filter/by_label_test.go
index 933871b61..5a8e6b3e7 100644
--- a/pkg/plugins/filter/by_label_test.go
+++ b/pkg/plugins/filter/by_label_test.go
@@ -249,9 +249,9 @@ func TestByLabelFiltering(t *testing.T) {
 
 			filteredEndpoints := blf.Filter(ctx, nil, nil, endpoints)
 
-			var actualEndpointNames []string
-			for _, endpoint := range filteredEndpoints {
-				actualEndpointNames = append(actualEndpointNames, endpoint.GetMetadata().NamespacedName.Name)
+			actualEndpointNames := make([]string, len(filteredEndpoints))
+			for idx, endpoint := range filteredEndpoints {
+				actualEndpointNames[idx] = endpoint.GetMetadata().NamespacedName.Name
 			}
 
 			assert.ElementsMatch(t, tt.expectedPods, actualEndpointNames,
diff --git a/pkg/plugins/scorer/precise_prefix_cache_test.go b/pkg/plugins/scorer/precise_prefix_cache_test.go
index 968497798..d7cff1385 100644
--- a/pkg/plugins/scorer/precise_prefix_cache_test.go
+++ b/pkg/plugins/scorer/precise_prefix_cache_test.go
@@ -217,12 +217,12 @@ func TestPrefixCacheTracking_Score(t *testing.T) {
 				require.NotNil(t, req.ChatCompletions, "req expected to use ChatCompletions API")
 
 				// convert to preprocessing format
-				var conversations []preprocessing.Conversation
-				for _, msg := range req.ChatCompletions.Messages {
-					conversations = append(conversations, preprocessing.Conversation{
+				conversations := make([]preprocessing.Conversation, len(req.ChatCompletions.Messages))
+				for idx, msg := range req.ChatCompletions.Messages {
+					conversations[idx] = preprocessing.Conversation{
 						Role:    msg.Role,
 						Content: msg.Content.Raw,
-					})
+					}
 				}
 
 				processor := preprocessing.NewChatTemplatingProcessor()
diff --git a/test/e2e/e2e_test.go b/test/e2e/e2e_test.go
index 44671ed71..436afb4e7 100644
--- a/test/e2e/e2e_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/e2e_test.go
@@ -491,7 +491,8 @@ func createEndPointPicker(eppConfig string) []string {
 	err := testConfig.K8sClient.Create(testConfig.Context, configMap)
 	gomega.Expect(err).ShouldNot(gomega.HaveOccurred())
 
-	objects := []string{"ConfigMap/epp-config"}
+	objects := make([]string, 1, 10)
+	objects[0] = "ConfigMap/epp-config"
 
 	eppYamls := testutils.ReadYaml(eppManifest)
 	eppYamls = substituteMany(eppYamls,
diff --git a/test/e2e/utils_test.go b/test/e2e/utils_test.go
index edfe32e45..d50493fba 100644
--- a/test/e2e/utils_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/utils_test.go
@@ -129,13 +129,13 @@ func runKustomize(kustomizeDir string) []string {
 }
 
 func substituteMany(inputs []string, substitutions map[string]string) []string {
-	outputs := []string{}
-	for _, input := range inputs {
+	outputs := make([]string, len(inputs))
+	for idx, input := range inputs {
 		output := input
 		for key, value := range substitutions {
 			output = strings.ReplaceAll(output, key, value)
 		}
-		outputs = append(outputs, output)
+		outputs[idx] = output
 	}
 	return outputs
 }