diff --git a/.github/workflows/go.yml b/.github/workflows/go.yml
index 1624ceb..09e0d17 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/go.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/go.yml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ on:
   workflow_dispatch:
 
 env:
-  GO_VER: 1.25.7
+  GO_VER: 1.26.0
   GINKGO_VER: 2.27.3
 
 jobs:
@@ -54,9 +54,9 @@ jobs:
           go-version: ${{ env.GO_VER }}
           cache: false
       - name: golangci-lint
-        uses: golangci/golangci-lint-action@v8
+        uses: golangci/golangci-lint-action@v9
         with:
-          version: v2.5.0
+          version: v2.9.0
           skip-cache: true
           problem-matchers: true
 
diff --git a/.golangci.yml b/.golangci.yml
index 29a769d..3923ecf 100644
--- a/.golangci.yml
+++ b/.golangci.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 version: "2"
 run:
   concurrency: 4
-  go: "1.25"
+  go: "1.26"
   tests: false
 linters:
   default: none
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ linters:
     - unparam
     - usestdlibvars
     - whitespace
+    - modernize
   settings:
     gosec:
       excludes:
diff --git a/core/cachestub/batch_cache_stub.go b/core/cachestub/batch_cache_stub.go
index 0c8c8eb..403f1f0 100644
--- a/core/cachestub/batch_cache_stub.go
+++ b/core/cachestub/batch_cache_stub.go
@@ -231,7 +231,8 @@ func (bs *BatchCacheStub) makeKeyByte(
 	chaincodeName string,
 	args [][]byte,
 ) string {
-	keys := []string{channel, chaincodeName}
+	keys := make([]string, 0, 2+len(args))
+	keys = append(keys, channel, chaincodeName)
 	for _, arg := range args {
 		keys = append(keys, string(arg))
 	}
@@ -243,7 +244,8 @@ func (bs *BatchCacheStub) makeKeyString(
 	chaincodeName string,
 	args []string,
 ) string {
-	keys := []string{channel, chaincodeName}
+	keys := make([]string, 0, 2+len(args))
+	keys = append(keys, channel, chaincodeName)
 	keys = append(keys, args...)
 	return strings.Join(keys, "")
 }
diff --git a/core/routing/reflect/reflect_funcs.go b/core/routing/reflect/reflect_funcs.go
index 9d0306e..5be871d 100644
--- a/core/routing/reflect/reflect_funcs.go
+++ b/core/routing/reflect/reflect_funcs.go
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@ import (
 // containing the names of all methods that are defined on its type. This function only considers
 // exported methods (those starting with an uppercase letter) due to Go's visibility rules in reflection.
 func Methods(v any) []string {
-	methodNames := make([]string, 0)
-
 	t := reflect.TypeOf(v)
+	methodNames := make([]string, 0, t.NumMethod())
+
 	for i := range t.NumMethod() {
 		method := t.Method(i)
 		methodNames = append(methodNames, method.Name)
@@ -86,5 +86,6 @@ func MethodReturnsError(v any, method string) bool {
 		return false
 	}
 
-	return methodType.Out(numOut-1) == reflect.TypeOf((*error)(nil)).Elem()
+	// TODO: when i install version 1.26 everywhere, remove nolint
+	return methodType.Out(numOut-1) == reflect.TypeOf((*error)(nil)).Elem() //nolint:modernize
 }
diff --git a/fixture/gost/go.mod b/fixture/gost/go.mod
index c5f7814..80e7db1 100644
--- a/fixture/gost/go.mod
+++ b/fixture/gost/go.mod
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 module gost
 
-go 1.25.7
+go 1.26.0
 
 require github.com/ddulesov/gogost v1.0.0
diff --git a/mocks/grpc/mock_client_conn.go b/mocks/grpc/mock_client_conn.go
index 800fc28..315bf71 100644
--- a/mocks/grpc/mock_client_conn.go
+++ b/mocks/grpc/mock_client_conn.go
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ func (m *MockClientConn) SetCaller(user *mocks.UserFoundation) *MockClientConn {
 }
 
 // Invoke performs a unary RPC and returns after the response is received into reply.
-func (m *MockClientConn) Invoke(_ context.Context, method string, args interface{}, reply interface{}, _ ...grpc.CallOption) error {
+func (m *MockClientConn) Invoke(_ context.Context, method string, args any, reply any, _ ...grpc.CallOption) error {
 	if m.user == nil {
 		return errors.New("caller not set")
 	}
diff --git a/mocks/multisigned_user.go b/mocks/multisigned_user.go
index fb82dd8..5388800 100644
--- a/mocks/multisigned_user.go
+++ b/mocks/multisigned_user.go
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ func NewUserFoundationMultisigned(keyType pbfound.KeyType, n int) (*UserFoundati
 	})
 
 	hashedAddr := sha3.Sum256(bytes.Join(binPubKeys, []byte("")))
-	userMultisigned.AddressBase58Check = base58.CheckEncode(hashedAddr[1:], hashedAddr[0])
+	userMultisigned.AddressBase58Check = base58.CheckEncode(hashedAddr[1:], hashedAddr[0]) //nolint:gosec
 	userMultisigned.AddressBytes = hashedAddr[:]
 	return userMultisigned, nil
 }
diff --git a/test/integration/go.mod b/test/integration/go.mod
index 24e48ef..22615b1 100644
--- a/test/integration/go.mod
+++ b/test/integration/go.mod
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module github.com/anoideaopen/foundation/test/integration
 
-go 1.25.7
+go 1.26.0
 
 tool (
 	github.com/IBM/idemix/tools/idemixgen