diff --git a/cmake/dependencies/ABLASTR.cmake b/cmake/dependencies/ABLASTR.cmake
index 5768d5ad1..4bc9b4e8e 100644
--- a/cmake/dependencies/ABLASTR.cmake
+++ b/cmake/dependencies/ABLASTR.cmake
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ macro(find_ablastr)
         else()
             set(COMPONENT_WMPI NOMPI)
         endif()
-        find_package(openPMD 0.15.2 CONFIG REQUIRED COMPONENTS ${COMPONENT_WMPI})
+        find_package(openPMD 0.16.1 CONFIG REQUIRED COMPONENTS ${COMPONENT_WMPI})
         message(STATUS "openPMD-api: Found version '${openPMD_VERSION}'")
     endif()
 endmacro()
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ set(ImpactX_amrex_branch "f6d3d70cadfc03036f5fdc4f89b7fcb225792716"
 set(ImpactX_openpmd_repo "https://github.com/openPMD/openPMD-api.git"
     CACHE STRING
     "Repository URI to pull and build openPMD-api from if(ImpactX_openpmd_internal)")
-set(ImpactX_openpmd_branch "0.15.2"
+set(ImpactX_openpmd_branch "0.16.1"
     CACHE STRING
     "Repository branch for ImpactX_openPMD_repo if(ImpactX_openpmd_internal)")
 
diff --git a/docs/source/install/dependencies.rst b/docs/source/install/dependencies.rst
index 55313c347..c5f7ac92b 100644
--- a/docs/source/install/dependencies.rst
+++ b/docs/source/install/dependencies.rst
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Optional dependencies include:
 - `FFTW3 <http://www.fftw.org>`__: for algorithms such as IGF space charge solver or CSR when running on CPU or with SYCL
 
   - also needs the ``pkg-config`` tool on Unix
-- `openPMD-api 0.15.2+ <https://github.com/openPMD/openPMD-api>`__: we automatically download and compile a copy of openPMD-api for openPMD I/O support
+- `openPMD-api 0.16.1+ <https://github.com/openPMD/openPMD-api>`__: we automatically download and compile a copy of openPMD-api for openPMD I/O support
 
   - see `optional I/O backends <https://github.com/openPMD/openPMD-api#dependencies>`__
 - `CCache <https://ccache.dev>`__: to speed up rebuilds (For CUDA support, needs version 3.7.9+ and 4.2+ is recommended)