diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index b366c4e030..b1b2541779 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -31,8 +31,6 @@ defaults:
     shell: bash
 
 env:
-  K8S_VERSION: 1.23.4
-  K8S_TIMEOUT: 75s
   HELM_CHART_DIR: deployments/helm-chart
   GIT_NAME: NGINX Kubernetes Team
   GIT_MAIL: kubernetes@nginx.com
@@ -49,6 +47,7 @@ jobs:
     outputs:
       go_version: ${{ steps.vars.outputs.go_version }}
       go_path: ${{ steps.go.outputs.go_path }}
+      k8s_latest: ${{ steps.vars.outputs.k8s_latest }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
@@ -65,6 +64,7 @@ jobs:
         id: vars
         run: |
           echo "::set-output name=go_version::$(grep "go 1." go.mod | cut -d " " -f 2)"
+          echo "::set-output name=k8s_latest::$(grep -m1 'FROM kindest/node' <tests/docker/Dockerfile | awk -F'[:v]' '{print $3}')"
       - name: Setup Golang Environment
         uses: actions/setup-go@v2
         with:
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ jobs:
   setup-matrix:
     name: Setup Matrix for Smoke Tests
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
-    needs: [binary, unit-tests]
+    needs: [binary, unit-tests, checks]
     outputs:
       matrix: ${{ steps.set-matrix.outputs.matrix }}
     steps:
@@ -164,9 +164,10 @@ jobs:
                                                 {\"image\": \"debian-plus\", \"marker\": \"ts\"}, \
                                                 {\"image\": \"alpine-plus\", \"marker\":\"ingresses\"}, \
                                                 {\"image\": \"opentracing-plus\", \"marker\": \"vsr\"}, \
-                                                {\"image\": \"ubi-plus\", \"marker\": \"policies\"}]}"
+                                                {\"image\": \"ubi-plus\", \"marker\": \"policies\"}], \
+                                              \"k8s\": [\"${{ needs.checks.outputs.k8s_latest }}\"]}"
           else
-            echo "::set-output name=matrix::{\"k8s\": [\"1.19.16\", \"1.20.15\", \"1.21.10\", \"1.22.7\", \"1.23.4\"]}"
+            echo "::set-output name=matrix::{\"k8s\": [\"1.19.16\", \"1.20.15\", \"1.21.10\", \"1.22.7\", \"${{ needs.checks.outputs.k8s_latest }}\"]}"
           fi
 
   smoke-tests:
@@ -185,7 +186,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           image: ${{ matrix.images.image != '' && matrix.images.image || 'debian' }}
           marker: ${{ matrix.images.marker != '' && matrix.images.marker || '' }}
-          k8s-version: ${{ matrix.k8s != '' && matrix.k8s || env.K8S_VERSION }}
+          k8s-version: ${{ matrix.k8s }}
           nginx-crt: ${{ secrets.NGINX_CRT }}
           nginx-key: ${{ secrets.NGINX_KEY }}
       - name: Upload Test Results
@@ -198,7 +199,7 @@ jobs:
   helm-tests:
     name: Helm Tests
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
-    needs: [binary, unit-tests]
+    needs: [binary, unit-tests, checks]
     env:
       NGINX_HTTP_PORT: 8080
       NGINX_HTTPS_PORT: 8443
@@ -229,7 +230,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Deploy Kubernetes
         id: k8s
         run: |
-          kind create cluster --name ${{ github.run_id }} --image=kindest/node:v${{ env.K8S_VERSION }} --wait ${{ env.K8S_TIMEOUT }}
+          kind create cluster --name ${{ github.run_id }} --image=kindest/node:v${{ needs.checks.outputs.k8s_latest }} --wait 75s
           kind load docker-image nginx-ingress:${{ github.sha }} --name ${{ github.run_id }}
       - name: Install Chart
         run: >
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-docker-images.yml b/.github/workflows/update-docker-images.yml
index 232d58a5b1..0c6b64b32a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update-docker-images.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-docker-images.yml
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ jobs:
           echo "::set-output name=sha_short::$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"
           echo "::set-output name=sha_long::$(git rev-parse HEAD)"
           echo "::set-output name=go_version::$(grep "go 1." go.mod | cut -d " " -f 2)"
-          echo "::set-output name=k8s_version::$(grep "K8S_VERSION:" .github/workflows/ci.yml | awk -F" " '{print $2}')"
+          echo "::set-output name=k8s_version::$(grep -m1 'FROM kindest/node' <tests/docker/Dockerfile | awk -F'[:v]' '{print $3}')"
 
   check:
     name: Check if updates are needed
diff --git a/tests/Makefile b/tests/Makefile
index b12e8de469..36b6913ed4 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile
+++ b/tests/Makefile
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ run-tests-in-kind: ## Run tests in Kind
 
 .PHONY: create-kind-cluster
 create-kind-cluster: ## Create Kind cluster
-	$(eval K8S_VERSION=$(shell grep "K8S_VERSION:" ../.github/workflows/ci.yml | awk -F" " '{print $$2}'))
-	kind create cluster --image kindest/node:v$(K8S_VERSION)
+	$(eval KIND_IMAGE=$(shell grep -m1 'FROM kindest/node' <docker/Dockerfile | awk -F'[ ]' '{print $$2}'))
+	kind create cluster --image $(KIND_IMAGE)
 	kind export kubeconfig --kubeconfig $(KIND_KUBE_CONFIG_FOLDER)/config
 
 .PHONY: delete-kind-cluster
diff --git a/tests/docker/Dockerfile b/tests/docker/Dockerfile
index 8e780e9e7d..63c0d2ee40 100644
--- a/tests/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/tests/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 # syntax=docker/dockerfile:1.3
+# this is here so we can grab the latest version of kind and have dependabot keep it up to date
+FROM kindest/node:v1.23.4
+
 FROM python:3.10
 
 RUN apt-get update \