diff --git a/dependencies.yaml b/dependencies.yaml
index 1fceae8925a..c3d80fdac90 100644
--- a/dependencies.yaml
+++ b/dependencies.yaml
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ dependencies:
       - path: images/build/go-runner/VERSION
 
   - name: "registry.k8s.io/build-image/go-runner (go1.25-bookworm)"
-    version: v2.4.0-go1.25rc2-bookworm.0
+    version: v2.4.0-go1.25.1-bookworm.0
     refPaths:
       - path: images/build/go-runner/variants.yaml
         match: v((([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)(?:-([0-9a-zA-Z-]+(?:\.[0-9a-zA-Z-]+)*))?)(?:\+([0-9a-zA-Z-]+(?:\.[0-9a-zA-Z-]+)*))?)
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ dependencies:
         match: "CONFIG: 'go\\d+.\\d+-bullseye'"
 
   - name: "registry.k8s.io/build-image/kube-cross (v1.34-go1.25)"
-    version: v1.34.0-go1.25rc2-bullseye.0
+    version: v1.34.0-go1.25.1-bullseye.0
     refPaths:
       - path: images/build/cross/variants.yaml
         match: "IMAGE_VERSION: 'v((([0-9]+)\\.([0-9]+)\\.([0-9]+)(?:-([0-9a-zA-Z-]+(?:\\.[0-9a-zA-Z-]+)*))?)(?:\\+([0-9a-zA-Z-]+(?:\\.[0-9a-zA-Z-]+)*))?)'"
diff --git a/images/build/cross/Makefile b/images/build/cross/Makefile
index 5d8627da951..b8f88678bca 100644
--- a/images/build/cross/Makefile
+++ b/images/build/cross/Makefile
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ REVISION ?= 0
 TYPE ?= default
 
 # Build args
-BASEIMAGE ?= golang:$(GO_VERSION)-$(OS_CODENAME)
+BASEIMAGE ?= debian:$(OS_CODENAME)-slim
 PROTOBUF_VERSION ?= 3.19.4
 
 IMAGE = $(REGISTRY)/$(IMGNAME)
@@ -83,6 +83,8 @@ container: check-env init-docker-buildx
 			--tag $(IMAGE)-$${platform##*/}:latest-$(CONFIG)-$(TYPE) \
 			--build-arg=BASEIMAGE=$(BASEIMAGE) \
 			--build-arg=PROTOBUF_VERSION=$(PROTOBUF_VERSION) \
+			--build-arg=TARGETPLATFORM=$${platform} \
+			--build-arg=GO_VERSION=$(GO_VERSION) \
 			--file $(TYPE)/Dockerfile \
 			.; \
 	done
diff --git a/images/build/cross/default/Dockerfile b/images/build/cross/default/Dockerfile
index f73de9c8b7d..590e998061a 100644
--- a/images/build/cross/default/Dockerfile
+++ b/images/build/cross/default/Dockerfile
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 # platform go binary for the architecture kubernetes cares about.
 
 ARG BASEIMAGE
+ARG GO_VERSION
+FROM golang:${GO_VERSION}-alpine as go-source
 FROM ${BASEIMAGE}
 
 ##------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -40,6 +42,12 @@ ENV KUBE_CROSSPLATFORMS \
   windows/amd64 windows/386
 
 ##------------------------------------------------------------
+COPY --from=go-source /usr/local/go /usr/local/go
+ENV PATH=/usr/local/go/bin:$PATH
+ENV GOROOT=/usr/local/go
+ENV GOLANG_VERSION=${GO_VERSION}
+ENV GOTOOLCHAIN=local
+ENV GOPATH=/usr/local/go
 
 # Pre-compile the standard go library when cross-compiling. This is much easier now when we have go1.5+
 RUN targetArch=$(echo $TARGETPLATFORM | cut -f2 -d '/') \
@@ -52,12 +60,17 @@ fi
 RUN apt-get -q update \
     && apt-get install -qqy \
         apt-utils \
+        curl \
         file \
+        git \
+        gnupg2 \
+        iproute2 \
         jq \
+        openssh-client \
         patch \
         rsync \
         unzip \
-        iproute2
+        wget
 
 # Use dynamic cgo linking for architectures other than amd64 for the server platforms
 # To install crossbuild essential for other architectures add the following repository.
diff --git a/images/build/cross/variants.yaml b/images/build/cross/variants.yaml
index 3c0a765706e..7a61b24b83b 100644
--- a/images/build/cross/variants.yaml
+++ b/images/build/cross/variants.yaml
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@ variants:
   v1.34-go1.25-bullseye:
     CONFIG: 'go1.25-bullseye'
     TYPE: 'default'
-    IMAGE_VERSION: 'v1.34.0-go1.25rc2-bullseye.0'
+    IMAGE_VERSION: 'v1.34.0-go1.25.1-bullseye.0'
     KUBERNETES_VERSION: 'v1.34.0'
-    GO_VERSION: '1.25rc2'
+    GO_VERSION: '1.25.1'
     GO_MAJOR_VERSION: '1.25'
     OS_CODENAME: 'bullseye'
     REVISION: '0'
diff --git a/images/build/go-runner/Dockerfile b/images/build/go-runner/Dockerfile
index 0ac4c3ed83d..fe4c49112b0 100644
--- a/images/build/go-runner/Dockerfile
+++ b/images/build/go-runner/Dockerfile
@@ -12,12 +12,27 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-# Build the manager binary
+ARG GO_VERSION
 ARG DISTROLESS_IMAGE
 ARG BUILDER_IMAGE
+
+# Get Go from official Alpine image
+FROM golang:${GO_VERSION}-alpine as go-source
+
+# Build the manager binary
 FROM ${BUILDER_IMAGE} as builder
 WORKDIR /workspace
 
+# Copy Go installation from official image
+COPY --from=go-source /usr/local/go /usr/local/go
+
+# Set up Go environment
+ENV PATH=/usr/local/go/bin:$PATH
+ENV GOROOT=/usr/local/go
+ENV GOLANG_VERSION=${GO_VERSION}
+ENV GOTOOLCHAIN=local
+ENV GOPATH=/usr/local/go
+
 # Copy the sources
 COPY ./go-runner.go ./
 COPY ./go.* ./
@@ -38,11 +53,8 @@ ENV GOPROXY="https://proxy.golang.org|direct"
 
 # Build
 ARG package=.
-ARG ARCH
 
 ENV CGO_ENABLED=0
-ENV GOOS=linux
-ENV GOARCH=${ARCH}
 
 RUN go env
 
diff --git a/images/build/go-runner/Makefile b/images/build/go-runner/Makefile
index 69987a44bd2..33cb8b7ece6 100644
--- a/images/build/go-runner/Makefile
+++ b/images/build/go-runner/Makefile
@@ -20,12 +20,12 @@ APP_VERSION = $(shell cat VERSION)
 GO_MAJOR_VERSION ?= 1.24
 REVISION ?= 0
 GO_VERSION ?= 1.24.6
-OS_CODENAME ?= bookworm
+OS_CODENAME ?= bookworm-slim
 
 # Build args
 DISTROLESS_REGISTRY ?= gcr.io/distroless
 DISTROLESS_IMAGE ?= static-debian12
-BUILDER_IMAGE ?= golang:$(GO_VERSION)-$(OS_CODENAME)
+BUILDER_IMAGE ?= debian:$(OS_CODENAME)
 
 # Configuration
 CONFIG = go$(GO_MAJOR_VERSION)-$(OS_CODENAME)
@@ -53,4 +53,5 @@ clean:
 	rm go-runner
 
 BUILD_ARGS = --build-arg=BUILDER_IMAGE=$(BUILDER_IMAGE) \
-             --build-arg=DISTROLESS_IMAGE=$(DISTROLESS_REGISTRY)/$(DISTROLESS_IMAGE)
+             --build-arg=DISTROLESS_IMAGE=$(DISTROLESS_REGISTRY)/$(DISTROLESS_IMAGE) \
+             --build-arg=GO_VERSION=$(GO_VERSION)
diff --git a/images/build/go-runner/variants.yaml b/images/build/go-runner/variants.yaml
index 81f4542da83..882934f42d7 100644
--- a/images/build/go-runner/variants.yaml
+++ b/images/build/go-runner/variants.yaml
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 variants:
   go1.25-bookworm:
     CONFIG: 'go1.25-bookworm'
-    IMAGE_VERSION: 'v2.4.0-go1.25rc2-bookworm.0'
+    IMAGE_VERSION: 'v2.4.0-go1.25.1-bookworm.0'
     GO_MAJOR_VERSION: '1.25'
     OS_CODENAME: 'bookworm'
     REVISION: '0'
-    GO_VERSION: '1.25rc2'
+    GO_VERSION: '1.25.1'
     DISTROLESS_IMAGE: 'static-debian12'
   go1.24-bookworm:
     CONFIG: 'go1.24-bookworm'
diff --git a/images/releng/ci/Dockerfile b/images/releng/ci/Dockerfile
index b41b91a9fa0..7b390dc7146 100644
--- a/images/releng/ci/Dockerfile
+++ b/images/releng/ci/Dockerfile
@@ -14,7 +14,25 @@
 
 ARG GO_VERSION
 ARG OS_CODENAME
-FROM golang:${GO_VERSION}-${OS_CODENAME} as builder
+
+# Get Go from official Alpine image
+FROM golang:${GO_VERSION}-alpine as go-source
+
+FROM debian:${OS_CODENAME}-slim
+
+# Copy Go installation from official image
+COPY --from=go-source /usr/local/go /usr/local/go
+
+# Set up Go environment
+ENV PATH=/usr/local/go/bin:$PATH
+ENV GOROOT=/usr/local/go
+ENV GOLANG_VERSION=${GO_VERSION}
+ENV GOTOOLCHAIN=local
+ENV GOPATH=/usr/local/go
+
+# Install required packages for adding Google Cloud SDK repository
+RUN apt-get update && \
+    apt-get install -y curl gnupg
 
 RUN echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/cloud.google.gpg] http://packages.cloud.google.com/apt cloud-sdk main" | \
     tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-cloud-sdk.list
@@ -26,9 +44,11 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
     apt-get install -y \
         bsdmainutils \
         build-essential \
+        git \
         google-cloud-sdk \
         jq \
         rpmlint \
+        wget \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 # install goreleaser
diff --git a/images/releng/ci/variants.yaml b/images/releng/ci/variants.yaml
index 642e9f36482..907ede44acf 100644
--- a/images/releng/ci/variants.yaml
+++ b/images/releng/ci/variants.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 variants:
   go1.25-bookworm:
     CONFIG: 'go1.25-bookworm'
-    GO_VERSION: '1.25rc2'
+    GO_VERSION: '1.25.1'
     OS_CODENAME: 'bookworm'
     REVISION: '0'
   go1.24-bookworm:
diff --git a/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Dockerfile b/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Dockerfile
index c9fb8d001c9..81a61c9c8fb 100644
--- a/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Dockerfile
+++ b/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/Dockerfile
@@ -17,7 +17,21 @@ ARG OS_CODENAME
 
 # 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
+FROM golang:${GO_VERSION_TOOLING}-alpine as go-source
+FROM debian:${OS_CODENAME}-slim AS builder
+
+# Install CA certificates for TLS verification
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y ca-certificates && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+# Copy Go installation from official image
+COPY --from=go-source /usr/local/go /go
+
+# Set up Go environment
+ENV PATH=/go/bin:$PATH
+ENV GOROOT=/go
+ENV GOLANG_VERSION=${GO_VERSION_TOOLING}
+ENV GOTOOLCHAIN=local
+ENV GOPATH=/go
 
 WORKDIR /go/src/k8s.io/release
 
diff --git a/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/variants.yaml b/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/variants.yaml
index b6d5fdc603e..8b463c79d8d 100644
--- a/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/variants.yaml
+++ b/images/releng/k8s-ci-builder/variants.yaml
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ variants:
     OS_CODENAME: 'bullseye'
   next:
     CONFIG: next
-    GO_VERSION: '1.25rc2'
-    GO_VERSION_TOOLING: '1.24.6'
+    GO_VERSION: '1.25.1'
+    GO_VERSION_TOOLING: '1.25.1'
     OS_CODENAME: 'bookworm'
   '1.34':
     CONFIG: '1.34'