diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 5affde553c4..e8b15358bc6 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ libp2p-yamux = { version = "0.48.0", path = "muxers/yamux" }
 
 # External dependencies
 asynchronous-codec = { version = "0.7.0" }
+bytes = "1.11.1"
 env_logger = "0.11"
 futures = "0.3.30"
 futures-bounded = { version = "0.3", features = ["tokio"] }
diff --git a/libp2p/Cargo.toml b/libp2p/Cargo.toml
index a42e5631565..aae734f8090 100644
--- a/libp2p/Cargo.toml
+++ b/libp2p/Cargo.toml
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ yamux = ["dep:libp2p-yamux"]
 upnp = ["dep:libp2p-upnp"]
 
 [dependencies]
-bytes = "1"
+bytes.workspace = true
 either = "1.9.0"
 futures = { workspace = true }
 # TODO feature flag?
diff --git a/misc/multistream-select/Cargo.toml b/misc/multistream-select/Cargo.toml
index 39eb96a75ac..6ec275f65a1 100644
--- a/misc/multistream-select/Cargo.toml
+++ b/misc/multistream-select/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ keywords = ["peer-to-peer", "libp2p", "networking"]
 categories = ["network-programming", "asynchronous"]
 
 [dependencies]
-bytes = "1"
+bytes.workspace = true
 futures = { workspace = true }
 tracing = { workspace = true }
 pin-project = "1.1.11"
diff --git a/misc/webrtc-utils/Cargo.toml b/misc/webrtc-utils/Cargo.toml
index 4da6cb503f7..35e88c87d67 100644
--- a/misc/webrtc-utils/Cargo.toml
+++ b/misc/webrtc-utils/Cargo.toml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ publish = true
 
 [dependencies]
 asynchronous-codec = { workspace = true }
-bytes = "1"
+bytes.workspace = true
 futures = { workspace = true }
 hex = "0.4"
 libp2p-core = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/muxers/mplex/Cargo.toml b/muxers/mplex/Cargo.toml
index 4c919b74947..07bc2d95579 100644
--- a/muxers/mplex/Cargo.toml
+++ b/muxers/mplex/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ keywords = ["peer-to-peer", "libp2p", "networking"]
 categories = ["network-programming", "asynchronous"]
 
 [dependencies]
-bytes = "1"
+bytes.workspace = true
 futures = { workspace = true }
 asynchronous-codec = { workspace = true }
 libp2p-core = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/protocols/floodsub/Cargo.toml b/protocols/floodsub/Cargo.toml
index 4746cc90bf2..0df63ee1a0a 100644
--- a/protocols/floodsub/Cargo.toml
+++ b/protocols/floodsub/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ categories = ["network-programming", "asynchronous"]
 asynchronous-codec = { workspace = true }
 cuckoofilter = "0.5.0"
 fnv = "1.0"
-bytes = "1.11"
+bytes.workspace = true
 futures = { workspace = true }
 libp2p-core = { workspace = true }
 libp2p-swarm = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/protocols/gossipsub/Cargo.toml b/protocols/gossipsub/Cargo.toml
index c0c50732408..c182634e447 100644
--- a/protocols/gossipsub/Cargo.toml
+++ b/protocols/gossipsub/Cargo.toml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ async-channel = "2.5.0"
 asynchronous-codec = { workspace = true }
 base64 = "0.22.1"
 byteorder = "1.5.0"
-bytes = "1.11"
+bytes.workspace = true
 either = "1.11"
 fnv = "1.0.7"
 futures = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/protocols/kad/Cargo.toml b/protocols/kad/Cargo.toml
index a5eb4ac2f1a..87864489274 100644
--- a/protocols/kad/Cargo.toml
+++ b/protocols/kad/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ keywords = ["peer-to-peer", "libp2p", "networking"]
 categories = ["network-programming", "asynchronous"]
 
 [dependencies]
-bytes = "1"
+bytes.workspace = true
 either = "1.11"
 fnv = "1.0"
 asynchronous-codec = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/protocols/relay/Cargo.toml b/protocols/relay/Cargo.toml
index bba481db11f..779778ce7af 100644
--- a/protocols/relay/Cargo.toml
+++ b/protocols/relay/Cargo.toml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ categories = ["network-programming", "asynchronous"]
 
 [dependencies]
 asynchronous-codec = { workspace = true }
-bytes = "1"
+bytes.workspace = true
 either = "1.12.0"
 futures = { workspace = true }
 futures-timer = "3"
diff --git a/transports/noise/Cargo.toml b/transports/noise/Cargo.toml
index dca4818f8db..6c67b7b3779 100644
--- a/transports/noise/Cargo.toml
+++ b/transports/noise/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ repository = "https://github.com/libp2p/rust-libp2p"
 
 [dependencies]
 asynchronous-codec = { workspace = true }
-bytes = "1"
+bytes.workspace = true
 futures = { workspace = true }
 libp2p-core = { workspace = true }
 libp2p-identity = { workspace = true, features = ["ed25519"] }
diff --git a/transports/plaintext/Cargo.toml b/transports/plaintext/Cargo.toml
index 8d1c35bd996..8605b500a06 100644
--- a/transports/plaintext/Cargo.toml
+++ b/transports/plaintext/Cargo.toml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ categories = ["network-programming", "asynchronous"]
 
 [dependencies]
 asynchronous-codec = { workspace = true }
-bytes = "1"
+bytes.workspace = true
 futures = { workspace = true }
 libp2p-core = { workspace = true }
 libp2p-identity = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/transports/webrtc-websys/Cargo.toml b/transports/webrtc-websys/Cargo.toml
index d92efec0d89..1e02abdfbff 100644
--- a/transports/webrtc-websys/Cargo.toml
+++ b/transports/webrtc-websys/Cargo.toml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ version = "0.5.0"
 publish = true
 
 [dependencies]
-bytes = "1"
+bytes.workspace = true
 futures = { workspace = true }
 hex = "0.4.3"
 js-sys = { version = "0.3" }
diff --git a/transports/websocket-websys/Cargo.toml b/transports/websocket-websys/Cargo.toml
index fad9ffccaca..30ba2968d16 100644
--- a/transports/websocket-websys/Cargo.toml
+++ b/transports/websocket-websys/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ keywords = ["peer-to-peer", "libp2p", "networking"]
 categories = ["network-programming", "asynchronous"]
 
 [dependencies]
-bytes = "1.11.1"
+bytes.workspace = true
 futures = { workspace = true }
 js-sys = "0.3.69"
 libp2p-core = { workspace = true }