diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f4a4672a588..97eb073976a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ docker-remove:
 
 
 
-GO_VERSION ?= 1.20.8
+GO_VERSION ?= $(shell cat .go-version)
 ETCD_VERSION ?= $(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD || echo "GitNotFound")
 
 TEST_SUFFIX = $(shell date +%s | base64 | head -c 15)