diff --git a/example/gardener-local/kind/cluster/values.yaml b/example/gardener-local/kind/cluster/values.yaml
index 540b2b0cc77..7c952735b77 100644
--- a/example/gardener-local/kind/cluster/values.yaml
+++ b/example/gardener-local/kind/cluster/values.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-# TODO(oliver-goetz): Update to 1.28.0 after the merge of https://github.com/gardener/gardener/pull/8479 has been merged and released (after 1.80 has been released).
-image: kindest/node:v1.27.3
+image: kindest/node:v1.28.0
 
 gardener:
   apiserverRelay:
diff --git a/hack/kind-up.sh b/hack/kind-up.sh
index e531e5f2b93..4ae61df2230 100755
--- a/hack/kind-up.sh
+++ b/hack/kind-up.sh
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ fi
 
 kind create cluster \
   --name "$CLUSTER_NAME" \
-  --image "kindest/node:v1.27.3" \
+  --image "kindest/node:v1.28.0" \
   --config <(helm template $CHART --values "$PATH_CLUSTER_VALUES" $ADDITIONAL_ARGS --set "gardener.repositoryRoot"=$(dirname "$0")/..)
 
 # adjust Kind's CRI default OCI runtime spec for new containers to include the cgroup namespace
diff --git a/hack/prepare-envtest.sh b/hack/prepare-envtest.sh
index 372df31b2d9..ae2716a384e 100755
--- a/hack/prepare-envtest.sh
+++ b/hack/prepare-envtest.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ set -o errexit
 set -o nounset
 set -o pipefail
 
-ENVTEST_K8S_VERSION=${ENVTEST_K8S_VERSION:-"1.27"}
+ENVTEST_K8S_VERSION=${ENVTEST_K8S_VERSION:-"1.28"}
 
 echo "> Installing envtest tools@${ENVTEST_K8S_VERSION} with setup-envtest if necessary"
 if ! command -v setup-envtest &> /dev/null ; then
diff --git a/test/e2e/gardener/common.go b/test/e2e/gardener/common.go
index 7f3aa9d4e01..a8dd02a54bf 100644
--- a/test/e2e/gardener/common.go
+++ b/test/e2e/gardener/common.go
@@ -76,8 +76,7 @@ func DefaultShoot(name string) *gardencorev1beta1.Shoot {
 			SecretBindingName: pointer.String("local"),
 			CloudProfileName:  "local",
 			Kubernetes: gardencorev1beta1.Kubernetes{
-				// TODO(oliver-goetz): Update to 1.28.2 after the merge of https://github.com/gardener/gardener/pull/8479 has been merged and released (after 1.80 has been released).
-				Version:                     "1.27.1",
+				Version:                     "1.28.2",
 				EnableStaticTokenKubeconfig: pointer.Bool(false),
 				Kubelet: &gardencorev1beta1.KubeletConfig{
 					SerializeImagePulls: pointer.Bool(false),
diff --git a/test/e2e/gardener/shoot/create_update_delete.go b/test/e2e/gardener/shoot/create_update_delete.go
index 348834a0d4e..27fd2e9af0f 100644
--- a/test/e2e/gardener/shoot/create_update_delete.go
+++ b/test/e2e/gardener/shoot/create_update_delete.go
@@ -43,8 +43,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Shoot Tests", Label("Shoot", "default"), func() {
 
 		// explicitly use one version below the latest supported minor version so that Kubernetes version update test can be
 		// performed
-		// TODO(oliver-goetz): Update to 1.27.1 after the merge of https://github.com/gardener/gardener/pull/8479 has been merged and released (after 1.80 has been released).
-		f.Shoot.Spec.Kubernetes.Version = "1.26.0"
+		f.Shoot.Spec.Kubernetes.Version = "1.27.1"
 
 		if !v1beta1helper.IsWorkerless(f.Shoot) {
 			// create two additional worker pools which explicitly specify the kubernetes version
@@ -53,8 +52,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Shoot Tests", Label("Shoot", "default"), func() {
 			pool2.Name += "2"
 			pool2.Kubernetes = &gardencorev1beta1.WorkerKubernetes{Version: &f.Shoot.Spec.Kubernetes.Version}
 			pool3.Name += "3"
-			// TODO(oliver-goetz): Update to 1.26.0 after the merge of https://github.com/gardener/gardener/pull/8479 has been merged and released (after 1.80 has been released).
-			pool3.Kubernetes = &gardencorev1beta1.WorkerKubernetes{Version: pointer.String("1.25.4")}
+			pool3.Kubernetes = &gardencorev1beta1.WorkerKubernetes{Version: pointer.String("1.26.0")}
 			f.Shoot.Spec.Provider.Workers = append(f.Shoot.Spec.Provider.Workers, *pool2, *pool3)
 		}
 
diff --git a/test/integration/resourcemanager/garbagecollector/garbagecollector_suite_test.go b/test/integration/resourcemanager/garbagecollector/garbagecollector_suite_test.go
index 7b096da1ab6..b999c2b97d3 100644
--- a/test/integration/resourcemanager/garbagecollector/garbagecollector_suite_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/resourcemanager/garbagecollector/garbagecollector_suite_test.go
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ var _ = BeforeSuite(func() {
 		Clock:                 clock.RealClock{},
 		MinimumObjectLifetime: pointer.Duration(0),
 		// Use the same version as the envtest package
-		TargetKubernetesVersion: semver.MustParse("1.27.0"),
+		TargetKubernetesVersion: semver.MustParse("1.28.0"),
 	}).AddToManager(mgr, mgr)).To(Succeed())
 
 	By("Start manager")