diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index fed3e3894da..43c087f3fb2 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ dependencies {
     compile 'org.apache.pdfbox:fontbox:2.0.15'
     compile 'org.apache.pdfbox:xmpbox:2.0.15'
 
-    compile group: 'org.apache.tika', name: 'tika-core', version: '1.20'
+    compile group: 'org.apache.tika', name: 'tika-core', version: '1.21'
 
     // required for reading write-protected PDFs - see https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/pull/942#issuecomment-209252635
     compile 'org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15on:1.61'