diff --git a/.bazelversion b/.bazelversion
index d99643b..39c2f00 100644
--- a/.bazelversion
+++ b/.bazelversion
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-7.7.1
+8.5.1
 # CI breaks when updating this file to bazel 8.
 # See https://github.com/bazel-contrib/rules-template/issues/138
 
diff --git a/examples/rules_lang/.bazelversion b/examples/rules_lang/.bazelversion
index ae9a76b..f9c71a5 100644
--- a/examples/rules_lang/.bazelversion
+++ b/examples/rules_lang/.bazelversion
@@ -1 +1 @@
-8.0.0
+8.5.1