diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6cb375ad572..601f48e95c0 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ KIND_VERSION ?= 0.17.0
 KIND_CLUSTER_FILE ?= test/bats/tests/kindcluster.yml
 # note: k8s version pinned since KIND image availability lags k8s releases
 KUBERNETES_VERSION ?= 1.30.0
-KUSTOMIZE_VERSION ?= 3.8.9
+KUSTOMIZE_VERSION ?= 5.4.3
 BATS_VERSION ?= 1.8.2
 ORAS_VERSION ?= 0.16.0
 BATS_TESTS_FILE ?= test/bats/test.bats