diff --git a/dependencies.yaml b/dependencies.yaml
index ba82acd5b97..5c8a5ac743e 100644
--- a/dependencies.yaml
+++ b/dependencies.yaml
@@ -391,6 +391,47 @@ dependencies:
     - path: images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/variants.yaml
       match: \d+.\d+(alpha|beta|rc)?\.?(\d+)?
 
+  # k8s-ci-builder
+  - name: "golang: releng tooling for k8s-ci-builder (master)"
+    version: 1.23.4
+    refPaths:
+    - path: images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Makefile
+      match: GO_VERSION_TOOLING\ \?=\ \d+.\d+(alpha|beta|rc)?\.?(\d+)?
+    - path: images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/variants.yaml
+      match: "GO_VERSION_TOOLING: '\\d+.\\d+(alpha|beta|rc)?\\.?(\\d+)?'"
+
+  - name: "golang: releng tooling for k8s-ci-builder (previous release branches: 1.32)"
+    version: 1.23.4
+    refPaths:
+    - path: images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Makefile
+      match: GO_VERSION_TOOLING\ \?=\ \d+.\d+(alpha|beta|rc)?\.?(\d+)?
+    - path: images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/variants.yaml
+      match: "GO_VERSION_TOOLING: '\\d+.\\d+(alpha|beta|rc)?\\.?(\\d+)?'"
+
+  - name: "golang: releng tooling for k8s-ci-builder (previous release branches: 1.31)"
+    version: 1.23.4
+    refPaths:
+    - path: images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Makefile
+      match: GO_VERSION_TOOLING\ \?=\ \d+.\d+(alpha|beta|rc)?\.?(\d+)?
+    - path: images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/variants.yaml
+      match: "GO_VERSION_TOOLING: '\\d+.\\d+(alpha|beta|rc)?\\.?(\\d+)?'"
+
+  - name: "golang: releng tooling for k8s-ci-builder (previous release branches: 1.30)"
+    version: 1.23.4
+    refPaths:
+    - path: images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Makefile
+      match: GO_VERSION_TOOLING\ \?=\ \d+.\d+(alpha|beta|rc)?\.?(\d+)?
+    - path: images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/variants.yaml
+      match: "GO_VERSION_TOOLING: '\\d+.\\d+(alpha|beta|rc)?\\.?(\\d+)?'"
+
+  - name: "golang: releng tooling for k8s-ci-builder (previous release branches: 1.29)"
+    version: 1.23.4
+    refPaths:
+    - path: images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Makefile
+      match: GO_VERSION_TOOLING\ \?=\ \d+.\d+(alpha|beta|rc)?\.?(\d+)?
+    - path: images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/variants.yaml
+      match: "GO_VERSION_TOOLING: '\\d+.\\d+(alpha|beta|rc)?\\.?(\\d+)?'"
+
   # golangci-lint-version
   - name: "golangci-lint"
     version: v1.62
diff --git a/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Dockerfile b/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Dockerfile
index ec851ea559c..c9fb8d001c9 100644
--- a/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Dockerfile
+++ b/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Dockerfile
@@ -12,12 +12,12 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-ARG GO_VERSION
+ARG GO_VERSION_TOOLING
 ARG OS_CODENAME
 
-# The Golang version for the builder image should always be explicitly set to
-# the Golang version of the kubernetes/kubernetes active development branch
-FROM golang:${GO_VERSION}-${OS_CODENAME} AS builder
+# The Release Tooling can be compiled with a different version of Go than the
+# the Go version used in the kubernetes/kubernetes active development branch.
+FROM golang:${GO_VERSION_TOOLING}-${OS_CODENAME} AS builder
 
 WORKDIR /go/src/k8s.io/release
 
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ FROM debian:${OS_CODENAME}
 # arg that specifies the image name (for debugging)
 ARG IMAGE_ARG
 
-# arg that specifies the go version to install
+# The Golang version for the builder image should always be explicitly set to
+# the Golang version of the kubernetes/kubernetes active development branch
 ARG GO_VERSION
 
 # arg that specifies docker-buildx version to install
diff --git a/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Makefile b/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Makefile
index 83aa1a43920..10ed719bf51 100644
--- a/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Makefile
+++ b/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Makefile
@@ -25,10 +25,12 @@ TAG ?= $(shell git describe --tags --always --dirty)
 
 # Build args
 GO_VERSION ?= 1.23.3
+GO_VERSION_TOOLING ?= 1.23.4
 OS_CODENAME ?= bullseye
 IMAGE_ARG ?= $(IMAGE):$(TAG)-$(CONFIG)
 
 BUILD_ARGS = --build-arg=GO_VERSION=$(GO_VERSION) \
+             --build-arg=GO_VERSION_TOOLING=$(GO_VERSION_TOOLING) \
              --build-arg=OS_CODENAME=$(OS_CODENAME) \
 			 --build-arg=IMAGE_ARG=$(IMAGE_ARG)
 
diff --git a/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/cloudbuild.yaml b/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/cloudbuild.yaml
index 821b71bae46..44aebe2acf0 100644
--- a/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/cloudbuild.yaml
+++ b/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/cloudbuild.yaml
@@ -15,20 +15,21 @@ steps:
     entrypoint: 'bash'
     dir: ./images/releng/k8s-ci-builder
     env:
-    - DOCKER_CLI_EXPERIMENTAL=enabled
-    - REGISTRY=$_REGISTRY
-    - IMAGE_ARG='$_REGISTRY/k8s-ci-builder:${_GIT_TAG}-${_CONFIG}'
-    - HOME=/root
-    - TAG=${_GIT_TAG}
-    - PULL_BASE_REF=${_PULL_BASE_REF}
-    - CONFIG=${_CONFIG}
-    - GO_VERSION=${_GO_VERSION}
-    - OS_CODENAME=${_OS_CODENAME}
+      - DOCKER_CLI_EXPERIMENTAL=enabled
+      - REGISTRY=$_REGISTRY
+      - IMAGE_ARG='$_REGISTRY/k8s-ci-builder:${_GIT_TAG}-${_CONFIG}'
+      - HOME=/root
+      - TAG=${_GIT_TAG}
+      - PULL_BASE_REF=${_PULL_BASE_REF}
+      - CONFIG=${_CONFIG}
+      - GO_VERSION=${_GO_VERSION}
+      - GO_VERSION_TOOLING=${_GO_VERSION_TOOLING}
+      - OS_CODENAME=${_OS_CODENAME}
     args:
-    - '-c'
-    - |
-      gcloud auth configure-docker \
-      && make push
+      - '-c'
+      - |
+        gcloud auth configure-docker \
+        && make push
 
 substitutions:
   # _GIT_TAG will be filled with a git-based tag for the image, of the form vYYYYMMDD-hash, and
@@ -37,16 +38,18 @@ substitutions:
   _PULL_BASE_REF: 'dev'
   _CONFIG: 'config'
   _GO_VERSION: '0.0.0'
+  _GO_VERSION_TOOLING: '0.0.0'
   _OS_CODENAME: 'codename'
   _REGISTRY: 'fake.repository/registry-name'
 
 tags:
-- 'k8s-ci-builder'
-- ${_GIT_TAG}
-- ${_PULL_BASE_REF}
-- ${_CONFIG}
-- ${_GO_VERSION}
-- ${_OS_CODENAME}
+  - 'k8s-ci-builder'
+  - ${_GIT_TAG}
+  - ${_PULL_BASE_REF}
+  - ${_CONFIG}
+  - ${_GO_VERSION}
+  - ${_GO_VERSION_TOOLING}
+  - ${_OS_CODENAME}
 
 images:
   - 'gcr.io/$PROJECT_ID/k8s-ci-builder:${_CONFIG}'
diff --git a/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/variants.yaml b/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/variants.yaml
index df5426d976d..9d9c1726445 100644
--- a/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/variants.yaml
+++ b/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/variants.yaml
@@ -2,24 +2,30 @@ variants:
   default:
     CONFIG: default
     GO_VERSION: '1.22.9'
+    GO_VERSION_TOOLING: '1.23.4'
     OS_CODENAME: 'bullseye'
   next:
     CONFIG: next
     GO_VERSION: '1.23.3'
+    GO_VERSION_TOOLING: '1.23.4'
     OS_CODENAME: 'bookworm'
   '1.32':
     CONFIG: '1.32'
     GO_VERSION: '1.23.3'
+    GO_VERSION_TOOLING: '1.23.4'
     OS_CODENAME: 'bullseye'
   '1.31':
     CONFIG: '1.31'
     GO_VERSION: '1.22.9'
+    GO_VERSION_TOOLING: '1.23.4'
     OS_CODENAME: 'bullseye'
   '1.30':
     CONFIG: '1.30'
     GO_VERSION: '1.22.9'
+    GO_VERSION_TOOLING: '1.23.4'
     OS_CODENAME: 'bullseye'
   '1.29':
     CONFIG: '1.29'
     GO_VERSION: '1.22.9'
+    GO_VERSION_TOOLING: '1.23.4'
     OS_CODENAME: 'bullseye'