diff --git a/cli/cmd/install.go b/cli/cmd/install.go
index bf90f78f60ba5..cc18a9bb4c302 100644
--- a/cli/cmd/install.go
+++ b/cli/cmd/install.go
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ func validateFinalValues(installed GatewayAPICRDs, finalValues map[string]interf
 			// if we are not installing GW API Resources and they are not present, error
 			return errors.New(`The Gateway API CRDs must be installed prior to installing Linkerd. Run:
 
-kubectl apply --server-side -f https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/releases/download/v1.4.0/standard-install.yaml
+kubectl apply --server-side -f https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/releases/download/v1.2.1/standard-install.yaml
 
 or see https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/guides/#installing-gateway-api for more options.`)
 		}
diff --git a/testutil/test_helper.go b/testutil/test_helper.go
index e0a5f7e251f7a..6ba5525b1e10b 100644
--- a/testutil/test_helper.go
+++ b/testutil/test_helper.go
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import (
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 )
 
-const GATEWAY_API_VERSION = "v1.2.0"
+const GATEWAY_API_VERSION = "v1.2.1"
 
 // TestHelper provides helpers for running the linkerd integration tests.
 type TestHelper struct {