diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/ka/kata-runtime/kata-images.nix b/pkgs/by-name/ka/kata-runtime/kata-images.nix
index e1b15266a99c..d4eb2f22817b 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/ka/kata-runtime/kata-images.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/ka/kata-runtime/kata-images.nix
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   lib,
   stdenv,
   version,
+  zstd,
 }:
 
 let
@@ -16,16 +17,17 @@ let
 
   imageHash =
     {
-      "x86_64-linux" = "sha256-7xDc5Rr3rP36zS3kpM2QEqOCtmka3EAnts4Z1h8MNWY=";
-      "aarch64-linux" = "sha256-8nLHTPetEfIrdtrpiT9Czcpf0NhL97TZ2DXyeBL04LA=";
+      "x86_64-linux" = "sha256-roS2pGO00ORN+xxNU3/uqJG9RzhVqf8gCkt8EJJbY/g=";
+      "aarch64-linux" = "sha256-AuK5a2Qtd176B91+vSsEFwuWICpe8wcGTbXoE7B8b20=";
     }
     ."${stdenv.hostPlatform.system}" or (throw "Unsupported system: ${stdenv.hostPlatform.system}");
 
 in
 fetchzip {
   name = "kata-images-${version}";
-  url = "https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/releases/download/${version}/kata-static-${version}-${imageSuffix}.tar.xz";
+  url = "https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/releases/download/${version}/kata-static-${version}-${imageSuffix}.tar.zst";
   hash = imageHash;
+  nativeBuildInputs = [ zstd ];
 
   postFetch = ''
     mv $out/kata/share/kata-containers kata-containers
diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/ka/kata-runtime/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/ka/kata-runtime/package.nix
index 57dbe5608066..b04e9d100868 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/ka/kata-runtime/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/ka/kata-runtime/package.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 }:
 
 let
-  version = "3.16.0";
+  version = "3.21.0";
 
   kata-images = callPackage ./kata-images.nix { inherit version; };
 
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ buildGoModule rec {
     owner = "kata-containers";
     repo = "kata-containers";
     rev = version;
-    hash = "sha256-+SppAF77NbXlSrBGvIm40AmNC12GrexbX7fAPBoDAcs=";
+    hash = "sha256-gOPabvimKzP7U1/BRzjKPDKE0MHnhKI4j0WZPM6ZTSA=";
   };
 
   sourceRoot = "${src.name}/src/runtime";