diff --git a/.github/workflows/continuous-integration.yaml b/.github/workflows/continuous-integration.yaml
index 371e5dd25..068d58dc2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/continuous-integration.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/continuous-integration.yaml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ on:
 env:
   MVN_MULTI_THREADED_ARGS: --batch-mode --no-transfer-progress --fail-at-end --show-version --threads 1C
   MVN_SKIP_CI_PLUGINS: -DskipFormatting -Denforcer.skip -Djacoco.skip -Dmdep.analyze.skip
-  JAVA_VERSION: 17
+  JAVA_VERSION: 21
   # keep the following two variables in sync with our 'cache-maven-dependencies.yaml' workflow
   MAVEN_CACHE_KEY: maven-dependencies
   MAVEN_CACHE_DIR: ~/.m2
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 981535092..50070dcd0 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
     <wiremock.version>3.13.2</wiremock.version>
     <assertj-core.version>3.27.6</assertj-core.version>
     <slf4j.version>2.0.17</slf4j.version>
-    <checkstyle.version>12.3.1</checkstyle.version>
+    <checkstyle.version>13.0.0</checkstyle.version>
     <system-stubs.version>2.1.3</system-stubs.version>
     <surefire.version>3.5.4</surefire.version>
     <springframework.version>6.2.15</springframework.version>