diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2bbb39afc..cde3d9ea2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ out-of-tree plugins.
 To compile CoreDNS, we assume you have a working Go setup. See various tutorials if you don’t have
 that already configured.
 
-First, make sure your golang version is 1.24.0 or higher as `go mod` support and other api is needed.
+First, make sure your golang version is 1.25.0 or higher as `go mod` support and other api is needed.
 See [here](https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/Modules) for `go mod` details.
 Then, check out the project and run `make` to compile the binary:
 
diff --git a/core/dnsserver/server.go b/core/dnsserver/server.go
index 2b9aad944..aaefa9476 100644
--- a/core/dnsserver/server.go
+++ b/core/dnsserver/server.go
@@ -229,11 +229,9 @@ func (s *Server) Stop() error {
 				continue
 			}
 
-			wg.Add(1)
-			go func() {
+			wg.Go(func() {
 				s1.ShutdownContext(ctx)
-				wg.Done()
-			}()
+			})
 		}
 		s.m.Unlock()
 		wg.Wait()
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 5d929f433..e1d1b4ebc 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ module github.com/coredns/coredns
 
 // Note this minimum version requirement. CoreDNS supports the last two
 // Go versions. This follows the upstream Go project support.
-go 1.24.0
+go 1.25.0
 
 require (
 	github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-go v68.0.0+incompatible
diff --git a/plugin/clouddns/clouddns_test.go b/plugin/clouddns/clouddns_test.go
index fff0d57f1..302da004e 100644
--- a/plugin/clouddns/clouddns_test.go
+++ b/plugin/clouddns/clouddns_test.go
@@ -363,13 +363,11 @@ func TestCloudDNSConcurrentServeDNS(t *testing.T) {
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
 
 	// Concurrently refresh zones to race with Lookup reads.
-	wg.Add(1)
-	go func() {
-		defer wg.Done()
+	wg.Go(func() {
 		for range 50 {
 			_ = r.updateZones(ctx)
 		}
-	}()
+	})
 
 	const workers = 32
 	const iterations = 200
diff --git a/plugin/dnstap/io_test.go b/plugin/dnstap/io_test.go
index 21e7e8c3e..12df67e5a 100644
--- a/plugin/dnstap/io_test.go
+++ b/plugin/dnstap/io_test.go
@@ -67,11 +67,9 @@ func TestTransport(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 
 		var wg sync.WaitGroup
-		wg.Add(1)
-		go func() {
+		wg.Go(func() {
 			accept(t, l, 1)
-			wg.Done()
-		}()
+		})
 
 		dio := newIO(param[0], l.Addr().String(), 1, 1)
 		dio.tcpTimeout = 10 * time.Millisecond
@@ -97,11 +95,9 @@ func TestRace(t *testing.T) {
 	defer l.Close()
 
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
-	wg.Add(1)
-	go func() {
+	wg.Go(func() {
 		accept(t, l, count)
-		wg.Done()
-	}()
+	})
 
 	dio := newIO("tcp", l.Addr().String(), 1, 1)
 	dio.tcpTimeout = 10 * time.Millisecond
@@ -132,11 +128,9 @@ func TestReconnect(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 
 		var wg sync.WaitGroup
-		wg.Add(1)
-		go func() {
+		wg.Go(func() {
 			accept(t, l, 1)
-			wg.Done()
-		}()
+		})
 
 		addr := l.Addr().String()
 		logger := MockLogger{}
@@ -164,11 +158,9 @@ func TestReconnect(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 		defer l.Close()
 
-		wg.Add(1)
-		go func() {
+		wg.Go(func() {
 			accept(t, l, 1)
-			wg.Done()
-		}()
+		})
 
 		messageCount := 5
 		for range messageCount {
@@ -249,11 +241,9 @@ func TestFullQueueWriteFail(t *testing.T) {
 	defer l.Close()
 
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
-	wg.Add(1)
-	go func() {
+	wg.Go(func() {
 		accept(t, l, 1)
-		wg.Done()
-	}()
+	})
 
 	logger := MockLogger{}
 	dio := newIO("unix", l.Addr().String(), 1, 1)
diff --git a/plugin/erratic/xfr.go b/plugin/erratic/xfr.go
index e1ec77ee9..4417f71a4 100644
--- a/plugin/erratic/xfr.go
+++ b/plugin/erratic/xfr.go
@@ -48,10 +48,8 @@ func xfr(state request.Request, truncate bool) {
 	}()
 
 	wg := new(sync.WaitGroup)
-	wg.Add(1)
-	go func() {
+	wg.Go(func() {
 		tr.Out(state.W, state.Req, ch)
-		wg.Done()
-	}()
+	})
 	wg.Wait()
 }
diff --git a/plugin/pkg/cache/shard_test.go b/plugin/pkg/cache/shard_test.go
index d0eefa72e..a4a54a0d4 100644
--- a/plugin/pkg/cache/shard_test.go
+++ b/plugin/pkg/cache/shard_test.go
@@ -102,12 +102,10 @@ func TestShardEvictParallel(t *testing.T) {
 	start := make(chan struct{})
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
 	for range shardSize {
-		wg.Add(1)
-		go func() {
+		wg.Go(func() {
 			<-start
 			s.Evict()
-			wg.Done()
-		}()
+		})
 	}
 	close(start) // start evicting in parallel
 	wg.Wait()
diff --git a/plugin/pkg/rand/rand_test.go b/plugin/pkg/rand/rand_test.go
index cd1e859cd..ccfee4a36 100644
--- a/plugin/pkg/rand/rand_test.go
+++ b/plugin/pkg/rand/rand_test.go
@@ -124,30 +124,26 @@ func TestConcurrentAccess(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// Test concurrent Int() calls
 	for range numGoroutines {
-		wg.Add(1)
-		go func() {
-			defer wg.Done()
+		wg.Go(func() {
 			for range numOperations {
 				val := r.Int()
 				if val < 0 {
 					errors <- nil
 				}
 			}
-		}()
+		})
 	}
 
 	// Test concurrent Perm() calls
 	for range numGoroutines {
-		wg.Add(1)
-		go func() {
-			defer wg.Done()
+		wg.Go(func() {
 			for range numOperations {
 				perm := r.Perm(5)
 				if len(perm) != 5 {
 					errors <- nil
 				}
 			}
-		}()
+		})
 	}
 
 	wg.Wait()
diff --git a/plugin/pkg/singleflight/singleflight_test.go b/plugin/pkg/singleflight/singleflight_test.go
index f66a0e9fd..5cd28d036 100644
--- a/plugin/pkg/singleflight/singleflight_test.go
+++ b/plugin/pkg/singleflight/singleflight_test.go
@@ -64,8 +64,7 @@ func TestDoDupSuppress(t *testing.T) {
 	const n = 10
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
 	for range n {
-		wg.Add(1)
-		go func() {
+		wg.Go(func() {
 			v, err := g.Do(1, fn)
 			if err != nil {
 				t.Errorf("Do error: %v", err)
@@ -73,8 +72,7 @@ func TestDoDupSuppress(t *testing.T) {
 			if v.(string) != "bar" {
 				t.Errorf("Got %q; want %q", v, "bar")
 			}
-			wg.Done()
-		}()
+		})
 	}
 	time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond) // let goroutines above block
 	c <- "bar"