diff --git a/.scala-steward.conf b/.scala-steward.conf
index afb66961..75645d17 100644
--- a/.scala-steward.conf
+++ b/.scala-steward.conf
@@ -18,9 +18,6 @@ updates.pin = [
   # when we update to protobuf 4.x we probably need to update a bunch of libraries
   # in tandem, and possibly schedule this for a major pekko-grpc release
   { groupId = "com.google.protobuf", version = "3." }
-
-  # Issues when using GRPC 1.68+ - https://github.com/apache/pekko-grpc/pull/397
-  { groupId = "io.grpc", version = "1.67." }
 ]
 
 updatePullRequests = "always"
diff --git a/benchmark-java/build.sbt b/benchmark-java/build.sbt
index db2aa1c5..224690ce 100644
--- a/benchmark-java/build.sbt
+++ b/benchmark-java/build.sbt
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ run / javaOptions ++= List("-Xms1g", "-Xmx1g", "-XX:+PrintGCDetails", "-XX:+Prin
 // generate both client and server (default) in Java
 pekkoGrpcGeneratedLanguages := Seq(PekkoGrpc.Java)
 
-val grpcVersion = "1.67.1" // checked synced by VersionSyncCheckPlugin
+val grpcVersion = "1.68.2" // checked synced by VersionSyncCheckPlugin
 
 val runtimeProject = ProjectRef(file("../"), "runtime")
 
diff --git a/gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/apache/pekko/grpc/gradle/PekkoGrpcPluginExtension.groovy b/gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/apache/pekko/grpc/gradle/PekkoGrpcPluginExtension.groovy
index 74d4a12c..fbb72161 100644
--- a/gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/apache/pekko/grpc/gradle/PekkoGrpcPluginExtension.groovy
+++ b/gradle-plugin/src/main/groovy/org/apache/pekko/grpc/gradle/PekkoGrpcPluginExtension.groovy
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class PekkoGrpcPluginExtension {
 
     static final String PROTOC_PLUGIN_SCALA_VERSION = "2.12"
 
-    static final String GRPC_VERSION = "1.67.1" // checked synced by VersionSyncCheckPlugin
+    static final String GRPC_VERSION = "1.68.2" // checked synced by VersionSyncCheckPlugin
 
     static final String PLUGIN_CODE = 'org.apache.pekko.grpc.gradle'
 
diff --git a/plugin-tester-java/pom.xml b/plugin-tester-java/pom.xml
index 3711d730..06258770 100644
--- a/plugin-tester-java/pom.xml
+++ b/plugin-tester-java/pom.xml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
     <maven-dependency-plugin.version>3.1.2</maven-dependency-plugin.version>
     <maven-exec-plugin.version>3.0.0</maven-exec-plugin.version>
     <pekko.http.version>1.1.0</pekko.http.version>
-    <grpc.version>1.67.1</grpc.version> <!-- checked synced by VersionSyncCheckPlugin -->
+    <grpc.version>1.68.2</grpc.version> <!-- checked synced by VersionSyncCheckPlugin -->
     <project.encoding>UTF-8</project.encoding>
   </properties>
 
diff --git a/plugin-tester-scala/pom.xml b/plugin-tester-scala/pom.xml
index 359b6b03..d06cd28f 100644
--- a/plugin-tester-scala/pom.xml
+++ b/plugin-tester-scala/pom.xml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
     <maven.compiler.target>1.8</maven.compiler.target>
     <pekko.version>1.1.2</pekko.version>
     <pekko.http.version>1.1.0</pekko.http.version>
-    <grpc.version>1.67.1</grpc.version> <!-- checked synced by VersionSyncCheckPlugin -->
+    <grpc.version>1.68.2</grpc.version> <!-- checked synced by VersionSyncCheckPlugin -->
     <project.encoding>UTF-8</project.encoding>
   </properties>
 
diff --git a/project/Dependencies.scala b/project/Dependencies.scala
index 319b5480..7838e053 100644
--- a/project/Dependencies.scala
+++ b/project/Dependencies.scala
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ object Dependencies {
     val pekkoHttp = PekkoHttpDependency.version
     val pekkoHttpBinary = pekkoHttp.take(3)
 
-    val grpc = "1.67.1" // checked synced by VersionSyncCheckPlugin
+    val grpc = "1.68.2" // checked synced by VersionSyncCheckPlugin
     // Even referenced explicitly in the sbt-plugin's sbt-tests
     // If changing this, remember to update protoc plugin version to align in
     // maven-plugin/src/main/maven/plugin.xml and org.apache.pekko.grpc.sbt.PekkoGrpcPlugin
diff --git a/sbt-plugin/src/sbt-test/gen-scala-server/00-interop/build.sbt b/sbt-plugin/src/sbt-test/gen-scala-server/00-interop/build.sbt
index b4fea838..8d3497f7 100644
--- a/sbt-plugin/src/sbt-test/gen-scala-server/00-interop/build.sbt
+++ b/sbt-plugin/src/sbt-test/gen-scala-server/00-interop/build.sbt
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ scalaVersion := "2.12.20"
 
 organization := "org.apache.pekko"
 
-val grpcVersion = "1.67.1" // checked synced by VersionSyncCheckPlugin
+val grpcVersion = "1.68.2" // checked synced by VersionSyncCheckPlugin
 
 libraryDependencies ++= Seq(
   "io.grpc" % "grpc-interop-testing" % grpcVersion % "protobuf-src",