diff --git a/lang/go-mini/box.rb b/lang/go-mini/box.rb
index c8f3a02..3acb1a8 100644
--- a/lang/go-mini/box.rb
+++ b/lang/go-mini/box.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 from "xena/alpine"
 
-run "apk add --no-cache go1.8.3"
+run "apk add --no-cache go1.9"
 copy "./go", "/usr/bin/go"
 
 flatten
-tag "xena/go-mini:1.8"
-tag "xena/go-mini:1.8.3"
+tag "xena/go-mini:1.9"
+tag "xena/go-mini:1.9"
diff --git a/lang/go-mini/go b/lang/go-mini/go
index 6c7464a..23cef26 100755
--- a/lang/go-mini/go
+++ b/lang/go-mini/go
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-exec go1.8.3 $*
+exec go1.9 $*
diff --git a/lang/go/box.rb b/lang/go/box.rb
index 70d598e..e723798 100644
--- a/lang/go/box.rb
+++ b/lang/go/box.rb
@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
+$goVer = "1.9"
+$goVerFam = "1.9"
+
 from "xena/alpine"
 
 run %q[ apk add --no-cache wget && cd /usr/local \
-     && wget -O go.tgz https://storage.googleapis.com/golang/go1.8.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz \
+     && wget -O go.tgz https://storage.googleapis.com/golang/go1.9.linux-amd64.tar.gz \
      && tar xf go.tgz && rm go.tgz ]
 
 env "PATH" => "$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin"
 
 flatten
-tag "xena/go:1.8"
-tag "xena/go:1.8.3"
+tag "xena/go:#{$goVerFam}"
+tag "xena/go:#{$goVer}"
diff --git a/lang/nim/box.rb b/lang/nim/box.rb
index 38b3b8e..d81f4e9 100644
--- a/lang/nim/box.rb
+++ b/lang/nim/box.rb
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env ruby
-# encoding: utf-8
+$nimVer = "0.17.2"
 
 from "xena/alpine"
 
 # update envvars
 env "PATH" => "/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/opt/nim/bin:/root/.nimble/bin",
-    "NIM_VERSION" => "0.17.2"
+    "NIM_VERSION" => $nimVer
 
 # system deps
 run %q[ apk add --no-cache --virtual nim-compiler-deps wget libc-dev gcc libgcc git perl xz tar \
@@ -22,4 +21,4 @@ run %q[ mkdir -p /opt && cd /opt \
 
 # shipit
 flatten
-tag "xena/nim:0.17.2"
+tag "xena/nim:#{$nimVer}"