diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 3622c98e381..5a912c560eb 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ require (
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.29.0
 	golang.org/x/net v0.31.0
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.27.0
-	google.golang.org/grpc v1.68.0
+	google.golang.org/grpc v1.68.1
 	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.35.2
 	//
 	// when updating k8s.io/kubernetes, make sure to update the replace section too
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index caf2ed091cd..a115c56dc80 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -3376,8 +3376,8 @@ google.golang.org/grpc v1.63.0/go.mod h1:WAX/8DgncnokcFUldAxq7GeB5DXHDbMF+lLvDom
 google.golang.org/grpc v1.63.2/go.mod h1:WAX/8DgncnokcFUldAxq7GeB5DXHDbMF+lLvDomNkRA=
 google.golang.org/grpc v1.64.0/go.mod h1:oxjF8E3FBnjp+/gVFYdWacaLDx9na1aqy9oovLpxQYg=
 google.golang.org/grpc v1.65.0/go.mod h1:WgYC2ypjlB0EiQi6wdKixMqukr6lBc0Vo+oOgjrM5ZQ=
-google.golang.org/grpc v1.68.0 h1:aHQeeJbo8zAkAa3pRzrVjZlbz6uSfeOXlJNQM0RAbz0=
-google.golang.org/grpc v1.68.0/go.mod h1:fmSPC5AsjSBCK54MyHRx48kpOti1/jRfOlwEWywNjWA=
+google.golang.org/grpc v1.68.1 h1:oI5oTa11+ng8r8XMMN7jAOmWfPZWbYpCFaMUTACxkM0=
+google.golang.org/grpc v1.68.1/go.mod h1:+q1XYFJjShcqn0QZHvCyeR4CXPA+llXIeUIfIe00waw=
 google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/protoc-gen-go-grpc v1.1.0/go.mod h1:6Kw0yEErY5E/yWrBtf03jp27GLLJujG4z/JK95pnjjw=
 google.golang.org/protobuf v0.0.0-20200109180630-ec00e32a8dfd/go.mod h1:DFci5gLYBciE7Vtevhsrf46CRTquxDuWsQurQQe4oz8=
 google.golang.org/protobuf v0.0.0-20200221191635-4d8936d0db64/go.mod h1:kwYJMbMJ01Woi6D6+Kah6886xMZcty6N08ah7+eCXa0=
diff --git a/vendor/google.golang.org/grpc/internal/resolver/dns/dns_resolver.go b/vendor/google.golang.org/grpc/internal/resolver/dns/dns_resolver.go
index 8691698ef22..374c12fb770 100644
--- a/vendor/google.golang.org/grpc/internal/resolver/dns/dns_resolver.go
+++ b/vendor/google.golang.org/grpc/internal/resolver/dns/dns_resolver.go
@@ -237,7 +237,9 @@ func (d *dnsResolver) watcher() {
 }
 
 func (d *dnsResolver) lookupSRV(ctx context.Context) ([]resolver.Address, error) {
-	if !EnableSRVLookups {
+	// Skip this particular host to avoid timeouts with some versions of
+	// systemd-resolved.
+	if !EnableSRVLookups || d.host == "metadata.google.internal." {
 		return nil, nil
 	}
 	var newAddrs []resolver.Address
diff --git a/vendor/google.golang.org/grpc/version.go b/vendor/google.golang.org/grpc/version.go
index d50e843598c..5a47094ae87 100644
--- a/vendor/google.golang.org/grpc/version.go
+++ b/vendor/google.golang.org/grpc/version.go
@@ -19,4 +19,4 @@
 package grpc
 
 // Version is the current grpc version.
-const Version = "1.68.0"
+const Version = "1.68.1"
diff --git a/vendor/modules.txt b/vendor/modules.txt
index 2cede69705b..db993786db1 100644
--- a/vendor/modules.txt
+++ b/vendor/modules.txt
@@ -837,8 +837,8 @@ google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/api/httpbody
 ## explicit; go 1.21
 google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc/errdetails
 google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc/status
-# google.golang.org/grpc v1.68.0
-## explicit; go 1.22.7
+# google.golang.org/grpc v1.68.1
+## explicit; go 1.22
 google.golang.org/grpc
 google.golang.org/grpc/attributes
 google.golang.org/grpc/backoff