diff --git a/scripts/setup-kind-cluster.sh b/scripts/setup-kind-cluster.sh
index fd24f6be..a412e608 100755
--- a/scripts/setup-kind-cluster.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup-kind-cluster.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 set -e
 
-KUBE_VERSION="${KUBE_VERSION:-v1.26.3}"
+KUBE_VERSION="${KUBE_VERSION:-v1.28.9}"
 CLUSTER_NAME="${CLUSTER_NAME:-eks-operator-e2e}"
 
 if ! kind get clusters | grep "$CLUSTER_NAME"; then
diff --git a/test/e2e/templates/basic-cluster.yaml b/test/e2e/templates/basic-cluster.yaml
index a12ad6aa..6d6ca2ce 100644
--- a/test/e2e/templates/basic-cluster.yaml
+++ b/test/e2e/templates/basic-cluster.yaml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ spec:
   amazonCredentialSecret: default:aws-credentials
   imported: false
   kmsKey: ""
-  kubernetesVersion: "1.26"
+  kubernetesVersion: "1.28"
   loggingTypes: []
   nodeGroups:
   - desiredSize: 2
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ spec:
     subnets: []
     tags: {}
     userData: ""
-    version: "1.26"
+    version: "1.28"
   privateAccess: false
   publicAccess: true
   publicAccessSources: []