diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 9c2d168..84914d9 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@
     <properties>
         <java.version>21</java.version>
         <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
-        <kafka.version>3.8.0</kafka.version>
+        <kafka.version>3.8.1</kafka.version>
+	<k3a.embedded.version>0.5.6+${kafka.version}</k3a.embedded.version>
         <maven-surefire.version>3.5.1</maven-surefire.version>
         <prometheus.version>1.3.2</prometheus.version>
     </properties>
@@ -90,7 +91,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>no.shhsoft</groupId>
             <artifactId>k3a-embedded</artifactId>
-            <version>0.5.5+${kafka.version}</version>
+            <version>${k3a.embedded.version}</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
     </dependencies>