diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index c724167..cedef70 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ gem "image_processing", "~> 1.2"
 # gem "rack-cors"
 
 # --- scribed additions ---
-gem "sidekiq", "~> 7.3"
+gem "sidekiq", "~> 8.1"
 gem "redis", "~> 5.3"
 gem "ruby-openai", "~> 7.3"
 gem "whispercpp", "~> 1.3"
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index ded83c6..32d95ef 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -350,12 +350,12 @@ GEM
       ffi (~> 1.12)
       logger
     securerandom (0.4.1)
-    sidekiq (7.3.9)
-      base64
-      connection_pool (>= 2.3.0)
-      logger
-      rack (>= 2.2.4)
-      redis-client (>= 0.22.2)
+    sidekiq (8.1.6)
+      connection_pool (>= 3.0.0)
+      json (>= 2.16.0)
+      logger (>= 1.7.0)
+      rack (>= 3.2.0)
+      redis-client (>= 0.29.0)
     solid_cable (4.0.0)
       actioncable (>= 7.2)
       activejob (>= 7.2)
@@ -437,7 +437,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   rspec-rails (~> 7.0)
   rubocop-rails-omakase
   ruby-openai (~> 7.3)
-  sidekiq (~> 7.3)
+  sidekiq (~> 8.1)
   solid_cable
   solid_cache
   solid_queue