diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 62431b3c9..07deb7fcc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -17,37 +17,20 @@ jobs:
         # our oldest (officially) supported version and the two upstream-supported versions
         go: [1.21.x, oldstable, stable]
 
-    env:
-      # avoid downloading any alternate toolchains (https://go.dev/doc/toolchain)
-      GOTOOLCHAIN: local
-
     steps:
       - name: checkout source code
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v7
 
       - name: setup go environment
-        uses: actions/setup-go@v5
+        uses: actions/setup-go@v7
         with:
           go-version: ${{ matrix.go }}
 
-      - name: install golangci-lint
-        uses: golangci/golangci-lint-action@v9
-        with:
-          version: v2.14
-          install-only: true
-
-      - name: run golangci-lint
-        run: |
-          golangci-lint run
-          cd schema/validate && golangci-lint run --path-prefix schema/validate
-
       - name: run tests
         run: |
           set -x
           make install.tools
 
-          make .govet
-
           make .gitvalidation
           make docs
           make -C schema test
diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint.yml b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
index 5c30099ea..3f1f3a757 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
@@ -3,11 +3,27 @@ name: Lint
 on: [push, pull_request]
 
 jobs:
+  golangci-lint:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v7
+    - uses: actions/setup-go@v7
+      with:
+        # Keep in sync with the Go version golangci-lint is built with.
+        go-version: 1.27.x
+    - name: install golangci-lint
+      uses: golangci/golangci-lint-action@v9
+      with:
+        version: v2.14
+        install-only: true
+    - name: run golangci-lint
+      run: make lint
+
   check-format:
     runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     steps:
     - name: Checkout code
-      uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      uses: actions/checkout@v7
     - name: Run make -C schema fmt
       run: make -C schema fmt
     - name: Check for changes
@@ -16,7 +32,7 @@ jobs:
   codespell:
     runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     steps:
-    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v7
     - name: install deps
       run: pip install --break-system-packages codespell==v2.4.1
     - name: run codespell
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 9d2bd3611..bf058ba37 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -54,14 +54,10 @@ endif
 version.md: ./specs-go/version.go
 	go run ./.tool/version-doc.go > $@
 
-HOST_GOLANG_VERSION	= $(shell go version | cut -d ' ' -f3 | cut -c 3-)
-# this variable is used like a function. First arg is the minimum version, Second arg is the version to be checked.
-ALLOWED_GO_VERSION	= $(shell test '$(shell /bin/echo -e "$(1)\n$(2)" | sort -V | head -n1)' = '$(1)' && echo 'true')
-
-test: .govet .golint .gitvalidation
-
-.govet:
-	go vet -x ./...
+.PHONY: lint
+lint:
+	golangci-lint run
+	cd schema/validate && golangci-lint run --path-prefix schema/validate
 
 # When this is running in GitHub, it will only check the GitHub commit range
 .gitvalidation: