diff --git a/.bazelrc b/.bazelrc
index 87de5de4cd46d..ad133f24ae61a 100644
--- a/.bazelrc
+++ b/.bazelrc
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@
 startup --host_jvm_args=-Xmx3g
 
 common --noenable_bzlmod
+common --enable_workspace
+
+common --incompatible_disallow_empty_glob=false
 
 fetch --color=yes
 run --color=yes
diff --git a/.bazelversion b/.bazelversion
index e8be68404bcb3..e7fdef7e2e635 100644
--- a/.bazelversion
+++ b/.bazelversion
@@ -1 +1 @@
-7.6.1
+8.4.2
diff --git a/bazel/dependency_imports.bzl b/bazel/dependency_imports.bzl
index d2ab0fc039089..e85b26b57acef 100644
--- a/bazel/dependency_imports.bzl
+++ b/bazel/dependency_imports.bzl
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ load("@rules_buf//buf:repositories.bzl", "rules_buf_toolchains")
 load("@rules_cc//cc:extensions.bzl", "compatibility_proxy_repo")
 load("@rules_foreign_cc//foreign_cc:repositories.bzl", "rules_foreign_cc_dependencies")
 load("@rules_fuzzing//fuzzing:repositories.bzl", "rules_fuzzing_dependencies")
+load("@rules_java//java:rules_java_deps.bzl", "rules_java_dependencies")
 load("@rules_pkg//:deps.bzl", "rules_pkg_dependencies")
 load("@rules_proto_grpc//:repositories.bzl", "rules_proto_grpc_toolchains")
 load("@rules_rust//crate_universe:defs.bzl", "crates_repository")
@@ -79,6 +80,7 @@ def envoy_dependency_imports(
         oss_fuzz = True,
         honggfuzz = False,
     )
+    rules_java_dependencies()
     register_jq_toolchains(version = jq_version)
     register_yq_toolchains(version = yq_version)
     parser_deps()
diff --git a/bazel/repository_locations.bzl b/bazel/repository_locations.bzl
index 1595e760f55ba..81c0a073f79d7 100644
--- a/bazel/repository_locations.bzl
+++ b/bazel/repository_locations.bzl
@@ -1083,9 +1083,9 @@ REPOSITORY_LOCATIONS_SPEC = dict(
         project_name = "Java rules for Bazel",
         project_desc = "Bazel rules for the Java language",
         project_url = "https://github.com/bazelbuild/rules_java/",
-        version = "7.12.5",
-        sha256 = "17b18cb4f92ab7b94aa343ce78531b73960b1bed2ba166e5b02c9fdf0b0ac270",
-        release_date = "2025-03-25",
+        version = "8.16.1",
+        sha256 = "1b30698d89dccd9dc01b1a4ad7e9e5c6e669cdf1918dbb050334e365b40a1b5e",
+        release_date = "2025-09-23",
         urls = ["https://github.com/bazelbuild/rules_java/releases/download/{version}/rules_java-{version}.tar.gz"],
         use_category = ["build"],
         license = "Apache-2.0",