diff --git a/.go-version b/.go-version
index 20538953a..bae5c7f66 100644
--- a/.go-version
+++ b/.go-version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.20.9
+1.21.3
diff --git a/.golangci.yml b/.golangci.yml
index de63b9f70..86342ebf4 100644
--- a/.golangci.yml
+++ b/.golangci.yml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ run:
   # timeout for analysis, e.g. 30s, 5m, default is 1m
   timeout: 1m
   build-tags: integration
-  go: "1.20.9"
+  go: "1.21.3"
 
 issues:
   # Maximum count of issues with the same text.
diff --git a/internal/pkg/policy/parsed_policy_test_data.go b/internal/pkg/policy/parsed_policy_data_test.go
similarity index 99%
rename from internal/pkg/policy/parsed_policy_test_data.go
rename to internal/pkg/policy/parsed_policy_data_test.go
index 39043a446..31ef2ead1 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/policy/parsed_policy_test_data.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/policy/parsed_policy_data_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 // or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License;
 // you may not use this file except in compliance with the Elastic License.
 
+//nolint:unused // linter is not has issues detecting these even though they are used in unit tests
 package policy
 
 const testPolicy = `