diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 6e5ad026b1d2dca8b97be63c5c0abc3a35ca6eed..0af2cd9f9f10298c02d30924d2491d885fbda1bb 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 variables:
-  GO_VERSION: "1.24.0"
   GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION: 'v1.64.5'
   GITLAB_ADVANCED_SAST_ENABLED: 'true'
 
@@ -10,12 +9,19 @@ workflow:
     - if: $CI_COMMIT_TAG
     - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH
 
-default:
-  image: golang:${GO_VERSION}
+.get_go_version: &get_go_version |
+  GO_VERSION=$(grep -E "^go [0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?" go.mod | awk '{print $2}')
+  echo "GO_VERSION=${GO_VERSION}"
+  export GO_VERSION
+
+# This is the base job template that all other jobs will extend
+.go_job:
+  # NOTE: largest linux-based hosted runner available in Free tier.
+  # see https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/runners/hosted_runners/linux.html#machine-types-available-for-linux---x86-64N
   tags:
-    # NOTE: largest linux-based hosted runner available in Free tier.
-    # see https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/runners/hosted_runners/linux.html#machine-types-available-for-linux---x86-64
     - 'saas-linux-medium-amd64'
+  before_script:
+    - *get_go_version
 
 stages:
   - documentation
@@ -35,13 +41,13 @@ include:
     inputs:
       golang_version: ${GO_VERSION}
 
-
 # From: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/caching/#cache-go-dependencies
 .go-cache:
   variables:
     GOPATH: $CI_PROJECT_DIR/.go
     GOLANGCI_LINT_CACHE: $CI_PROJECT_DIR/.golangci-lint
   before_script:
+    - *get_go_version
     - mkdir -p .go .golangci-lint
   cache:
     paths:
@@ -49,12 +55,16 @@ include:
       - .golangci-lint/
 
 .documentation:
+  extends: .go_job
   stage: documentation
   rules:
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
 
 check_docs_update:
   extends: .documentation
+  image: golang:latest
+  before_script:
+    - *get_go_version
   script:
     - git fetch origin $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME && git checkout $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME && git checkout $CI_COMMIT_SHA
     - make gen-docs
@@ -72,7 +82,9 @@ check_docs_update:
 
 check_docs_markdown:
   image: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/technical-writing/docs-gitlab-com/lint-markdown:alpine-3.21-vale-3.9.3-markdownlint2-0.17.1-lychee-0.18.0
-  extends: .documentation
+  stage: documentation
+  before_script:
+    - *get_go_version
   script:
     # Lint prose
     - vale --minAlertLevel error docs
@@ -84,8 +96,10 @@ check_docs_markdown:
 lint_commit:
   stage: test
   image: node:18-slim
-  script:
+  before_script:
+    - *get_go_version
     - apt-get update && apt-get install -y git
+  script:
     - git fetch origin $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME && git checkout $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME && git checkout $CI_COMMIT_SHA
     - cd scripts/commit-lint && npm ci
     - node lint.js
@@ -96,6 +110,8 @@ lint_commit:
 lint:
   image: golangci/golangci-lint:$GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION
   stage: test
+  before_script:
+    - *get_go_version
   script:
     # Write the code coverage report to gl-code-quality-report.json
     # and print linting issues to stdout in the format: path/to/file:line description
@@ -109,7 +125,11 @@ lint:
 
 run_tests:
   stage: test
-  extends: .go-cache
+  before_script:
+    - *get_go_version
+    - which go || echo "Go executable not found"
+    - echo $PATH
+    - go version
   # We currently only test on the lastest versino of Go which we also build against.
   # If we need to introduce testing for future versions of compatibility reasons
   # uncomment the below lines and adjust the `GO_VERSION` to included versions to test.
@@ -138,6 +158,8 @@ run_tests:
   image: docker:stable
   services:
     - docker:dind
+  before_script:
+    - *get_go_version
   variables:
     # Disable shallow cloning so that goreleaser can diff between tags to
     # generate a changelog.
@@ -191,6 +213,9 @@ homebrew-release:
   image: homebrew/ubuntu22.04:latest
   stage: release
   needs: [release]
+  dependencies: [release]
+  before_script:
+    - *get_go_version
   rules:
     - if: $CI_COMMIT_TAG
   script:
@@ -205,6 +230,10 @@ windows_installer:
   image:
     name: amake/innosetup
     entrypoint: [""]
+  before_script:
+    - *get_go_version
+  dependencies: [build_windows]
+  needs: [build_windows]
   rules:
     - if: $CI_COMMIT_TAG
     - if: $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_EVENT_TYPE == "merge_train"
@@ -218,13 +247,10 @@ windows_installer:
     paths:
       - "bin/*"
     expire_in: "30 days"
-  dependencies: [build_windows]
-  needs: [build_windows]
 
 build_windows:
+  extends: .go_job
   stage: release
-  needs: []
-  extends: .go-cache
   rules:
     - if: $CI_COMMIT_TAG
     - if: $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_EVENT_TYPE == "merge_train"
@@ -240,4 +266,6 @@ build_windows:
     expire_in: "30 days"
 
 secret_detection:
+  before_script:
+    - *get_go_version
   dependencies: [] # Don't download artifacts, especially `./public/`