diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 525f021b0d..8a9ff3c796 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.10.1
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.10
 	github.com/yuin/gopher-lua v1.1.1
-	go.yaml.in/yaml/v3 v3.0.4
+	go.yaml.in/yaml/v4 v4.0.0-rc.3
 	golang.org/x/net v0.46.0
 	golang.org/x/text v0.30.0
 	gopkg.in/op/go-logging.v1 v1.0.0-20160211212156-b2cb9fa56473
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index c64331aba8..85fb291872 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -50,8 +50,8 @@ github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.0 h1:nwc3DEeHmmLAfoZucVR881uASk0Mfjw8xYJ99tb5Cc
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.0/go.mod h1:6Fq8oRcR53rry900zMqJjRRixrwX3KX962/h/Wwjteg=
 github.com/yuin/gopher-lua v1.1.1 h1:kYKnWBjvbNP4XLT3+bPEwAXJx262OhaHDWDVOPjL46M=
 github.com/yuin/gopher-lua v1.1.1/go.mod h1:GBR0iDaNXjAgGg9zfCvksxSRnQx76gclCIb7kdAd1Pw=
-go.yaml.in/yaml/v3 v3.0.4 h1:tfq32ie2Jv2UxXFdLJdh3jXuOzWiL1fo0bu/FbuKpbc=
-go.yaml.in/yaml/v3 v3.0.4/go.mod h1:DhzuOOF2ATzADvBadXxruRBLzYTpT36CKvDb3+aBEFg=
+go.yaml.in/yaml/v4 v4.0.0-rc.3 h1:3h1fjsh1CTAPjW7q/EMe+C8shx5d8ctzZTrLcs/j8Go=
+go.yaml.in/yaml/v4 v4.0.0-rc.3/go.mod h1:aZqd9kCMsGL7AuUv/m/PvWLdg5sjJsZ4oHDEnfPPfY0=
 golang.org/x/net v0.46.0 h1:giFlY12I07fugqwPuWJi68oOnpfqFnJIJzaIIm2JVV4=
 golang.org/x/net v0.46.0/go.mod h1:Q9BGdFy1y4nkUwiLvT5qtyhAnEHgnQ/zd8PfU6nc210=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.6.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
@@ -59,7 +59,6 @@ golang.org/x/sys v0.37.0 h1:fdNQudmxPjkdUTPnLn5mdQv7Zwvbvpaxqs831goi9kQ=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.37.0/go.mod h1:OgkHotnGiDImocRcuBABYBEXf8A9a87e/uXjp9XT3ks=
 golang.org/x/text v0.30.0 h1:yznKA/E9zq54KzlzBEAWn1NXSQ8DIp/NYMy88xJjl4k=
 golang.org/x/text v0.30.0/go.mod h1:yDdHFIX9t+tORqspjENWgzaCVXgk0yYnYuSZ8UzzBVM=
-gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405 h1:yhCVgyC4o1eVCa2tZl7eS0r+SDo693bJlVdllGtEeKM=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
 gopkg.in/op/go-logging.v1 v1.0.0-20160211212156-b2cb9fa56473 h1:6D+BvnJ/j6e222UW8s2qTSe3wGBtvo0MbVQG/c5k8RE=
 gopkg.in/op/go-logging.v1 v1.0.0-20160211212156-b2cb9fa56473/go.mod h1:N1eN2tsCx0Ydtgjl4cqmbRCsY4/+z4cYDeqwZTk6zog=
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/candidate_node_yaml.go b/pkg/yqlib/candidate_node_yaml.go
index 14beb0737e..03b137a457 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/candidate_node_yaml.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/candidate_node_yaml.go
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ package yqlib
 import (
 	"fmt"
 
-	yaml "go.yaml.in/yaml/v3"
+	yaml "go.yaml.in/yaml/v4"
 )
 
 func MapYamlStyle(original yaml.Style) Style {
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/decoder_yaml.go b/pkg/yqlib/decoder_yaml.go
index 683a42caac..79efce64d6 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/decoder_yaml.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/decoder_yaml.go
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 
-	yaml "go.yaml.in/yaml/v3"
+	yaml "go.yaml.in/yaml/v4"
 )
 
 type yamlDecoder struct {
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/anchor-and-alias-operators.md b/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/anchor-and-alias-operators.md
index cfdc85795b..b5dc62eb16 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/anchor-and-alias-operators.md
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/anchor-and-alias-operators.md
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ Given a sample.yml file of:
 ```yaml
 f:
   a: &a cat
-  *a: b
+  *a : b
 ```
 then
 ```bash
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/encoder_yaml.go b/pkg/yqlib/encoder_yaml.go
index 8c65899ffe..3b6b92b59a 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/encoder_yaml.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/encoder_yaml.go
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/fatih/color"
-	"go.yaml.in/yaml/v3"
+	"go.yaml.in/yaml/v4"
 )
 
 type yamlEncoder struct {
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/operators_test.go b/pkg/yqlib/operators_test.go
index 23c83c4e01..c2d3bb3948 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/operators_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operators_test.go
@@ -385,13 +385,13 @@ func documentOutput(t *testing.T, w *bufio.Writer, s expressionScenario, formatt
 
 		inputs, err = readDocument(formattedDoc, "sample.yml", 0)
 		if err != nil {
-			t.Error(err, s.document, s.expression)
+			t.Error(err, formattedDoc, "exp: "+s.expression)
 			return
 		}
 		if s.document2 != "" {
 			moreInputs, err := readDocument(formattedDoc2, "another.yml", 1)
 			if err != nil {
-				t.Error(err, s.document, s.expression)
+				t.Error(err, formattedDoc2, "exp: "+s.expression)
 				return
 			}
 			inputs.PushBackList(moreInputs)
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/printer_node_info.go b/pkg/yqlib/printer_node_info.go
index cd047aeefc..0bc8b09af2 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/printer_node_info.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/printer_node_info.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"container/list"
 	"io"
 
-	"go.yaml.in/yaml/v3"
+	"go.yaml.in/yaml/v4"
 )
 
 type nodeInfoPrinter struct {
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/shellvariables.go b/pkg/yqlib/shellvariables.go
index 634fc6fa49..75801cda9a 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/shellvariables.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/shellvariables.go
@@ -11,4 +11,3 @@ func NewDefaultShellVariablesPreferences() ShellVariablesPreferences {
 }
 
 var ConfiguredShellVariablesPreferences = NewDefaultShellVariablesPreferences()
-