diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-build.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci-build.yaml
index a8d4b7e50742..9875a75618dd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-build.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-build.yaml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
       - uses: actions/setup-go@v2
         with:
-          go-version: "1.15.7"
+          go-version: "1.16"
       - uses: actions/cache@v2
         with:
           path: /home/runner/.cache/go-build
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
       - uses: actions/setup-go@v2
         with:
-          go-version: "1.15.7"
+          go-version: "1.16"
       - uses: actions/cache@v2
         with:
           path: /home/runner/.cache/go-build
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
       - uses: actions/setup-go@v2
         with:
-          go-version: "1.15.7"
+          go-version: "1.16"
       - uses: actions/cache@v2
         with:
           path: /home/runner/.cache/go-build
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gh-pages.yaml b/.github/workflows/gh-pages.yaml
index 4fd8e87ecda6..14ff964d6cbb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gh-pages.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gh-pages.yaml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Setup Golang
         uses: actions/setup-go@v1
         with:
-          go-version: '1.15.7'
+          go-version: '1.16'
       - name: build
         run: |
           pip install mkdocs==1.0.4 mkdocs_material==4.1.1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 0d4a283f0cef..95756d1f3f3a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ jobs:
           key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-dep-v1-${{ hashFiles('**/yarn.lock') }}
       - uses: actions/setup-go@v2
         with:
-          go-version: "1.15.7"
+          go-version: "1.16"
       - uses: actions/cache@v2
         with:
           path: /home/runner/.cache/go-build
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index a3fcf13cf427..ad2866e0a570 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ ARG DOCKER_VERSION=18.09.1
 ARG KUBECTL_VERSION=1.19.6
 ARG JQ_VERSION=1.6
 
-FROM docker.io/library/golang:1.15.7 as builder
+FROM docker.io/library/golang:1.16 as builder
 
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get --no-install-recommends install -y \
     git \
diff --git a/Dockerfile.windows b/Dockerfile.windows
index f3d793d596bf..d4facccaf425 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.windows
+++ b/Dockerfile.windows
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ ARG IMAGE_OS_VERSION=1809
 
 # had issues with official golange image for windows so I'm using plain servercore
 FROM mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore:${IMAGE_OS_VERSION} as builder
-ENV GOLANG_VERSION=1.15.7
+ENV GOLANG_VERSION=1.16
 SHELL ["powershell", "-Command"]
 
 # install chocolatey package manager
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index be34314cf008..0b1a6a0aee0f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -444,7 +444,7 @@ dist/argosay:
 
 .PHONY: pull-images
 pull-images:
-	docker pull golang:1.15.7
+	docker pull golang:1.16
 	docker pull debian:10.7-slim
 	docker pull mysql:8
 	docker pull argoproj/argosay:v1
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 0f3d07cbde92..d88d3a24643d 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/v3
 
-go 1.15
+go 1.16
 
 require (
 	cloud.google.com/go v0.55.0 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index c5344c9023ff..ff9eba297bfd 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -286,7 +286,6 @@ github.com/fatih/structs v1.1.0 h1:Q7juDM0QtcnhCpeyLGQKyg4TOIghuNXrkL32pHAUMxo=
 github.com/fatih/structs v1.1.0/go.mod h1:9NiDSp5zOcgEDl+j00MP/WkGVPOlPRLejGD8Ga6PJ7M=
 github.com/felixge/httpsnoop v1.0.1 h1:lvB5Jl89CsZtGIWuTcDM1E/vkVs49/Ml7JJe07l8SPQ=
 github.com/felixge/httpsnoop v1.0.1/go.mod h1:m8KPJKqk1gH5J9DgRY2ASl2lWCfGKXixSwevea8zH2U=
-github.com/flynn/go-shlex v0.0.0-20150515145356-3f9db97f8568 h1:BHsljHzVlRcyQhjrss6TZTdY2VfCqZPbv5k3iBFa2ZQ=
 github.com/flynn/go-shlex v0.0.0-20150515145356-3f9db97f8568/go.mod h1:xEzjJPgXI435gkrCt3MPfRiAkVrwSbHsst4LCFVfpJc=
 github.com/form3tech-oss/jwt-go v3.2.2+incompatible h1:TcekIExNqud5crz4xD2pavyTgWiPvpYe4Xau31I0PRk=
 github.com/form3tech-oss/jwt-go v3.2.2+incompatible/go.mod h1:pbq4aXjuKjdthFRnoDwaVPLA+WlJuPGy+QneDUgJi2k=
@@ -643,7 +642,6 @@ github.com/jtolds/gls v4.20.0+incompatible h1:xdiiI2gbIgH/gLH7ADydsJ1uDOEzR8yvV7
 github.com/jtolds/gls v4.20.0+incompatible/go.mod h1:QJZ7F/aHp+rZTRtaJ1ow/lLfFfVYBRgL+9YlvaHOwJU=
 github.com/julienschmidt/httprouter v1.2.0/go.mod h1:SYymIcj16QtmaHHD7aYtjjsJG7VTCxuUUipMqKk8s4w=
 github.com/julienschmidt/httprouter v1.3.0/go.mod h1:JR6WtHb+2LUe8TCKY3cZOxFyyO8IZAc4RVcycCCAKdM=
-github.com/k0kubun/colorstring v0.0.0-20150214042306-9440f1994b88 h1:uC1QfSlInpQF+M0ao65imhwqKnz3Q2z/d8PWZRMQvDM=
 github.com/k0kubun/colorstring v0.0.0-20150214042306-9440f1994b88/go.mod h1:3w7q1U84EfirKl04SVQ/s7nPm1ZPhiXd34z40TNz36k=
 github.com/karrick/godirwalk v1.7.8/go.mod h1:2c9FRhkDxdIbgkOnCEvnSWs71Bhugbl46shStcFDJ34=
 github.com/karrick/godirwalk v1.8.0/go.mod h1:H5KPZjojv4lE+QYImBI8xVtrBRgYrIVsaRPx4tDPEn4=