diff --git a/examples/php/echo/apache.Dockerfile b/examples/php/echo/apache.Dockerfile
index a9c20d9439e..3a670f1c699 100644
--- a/examples/php/echo/apache.Dockerfile
+++ b/examples/php/echo/apache.Dockerfile
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ FROM composer:1.8.6 as composer
 FROM grpc-php/base as grpc-base
 
 
-FROM php:7.4-apache-buster
+FROM php:8.1-apache-buster
 
 RUN apt-get -qq update && apt-get -qq install -y git
 
diff --git a/examples/php/echo/base.Dockerfile b/examples/php/echo/base.Dockerfile
index 33c0422897b..c1709c2de6d 100644
--- a/examples/php/echo/base.Dockerfile
+++ b/examples/php/echo/base.Dockerfile
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-FROM php:7.4-buster
+FROM php:8.1-buster
 
 RUN apt-get -qq update && apt-get -qq install -y \
   autoconf automake cmake curl git libtool \
diff --git a/examples/php/echo/cli.Dockerfile b/examples/php/echo/cli.Dockerfile
index 7b067744471..80eb168083c 100644
--- a/examples/php/echo/cli.Dockerfile
+++ b/examples/php/echo/cli.Dockerfile
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ FROM composer:1.8.6 as composer
 FROM grpc-php/base as grpc-base
 
 
-FROM php:7.4-buster
+FROM php:8.1-buster
 
 RUN apt-get -qq update && apt-get -qq install -y git
 
diff --git a/examples/php/echo/fpm.Dockerfile b/examples/php/echo/fpm.Dockerfile
index be2aad50346..7ace7bb39b8 100644
--- a/examples/php/echo/fpm.Dockerfile
+++ b/examples/php/echo/fpm.Dockerfile
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ FROM composer:1.8.6 as composer
 FROM grpc-php/base as grpc-base
 
 
-FROM php:7.4-fpm-buster
+FROM php:8.1-fpm-buster
 
 RUN apt-get -qq update && apt-get -qq install -y git
 
diff --git a/src/php/bin/build_all_docker_images.sh b/src/php/bin/build_all_docker_images.sh
index 0289f98edc9..3ce94f22be7 100755
--- a/src/php/bin/build_all_docker_images.sh
+++ b/src/php/bin/build_all_docker_images.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ set -e
 cd $(dirname $0)/../../..
 
 ALL_IMAGES=( grpc-ext grpc-src alpine centos7 php-src php-zts
-             fork-support i386 php8 php8.2 )
+             fork-support i386 php8.2 )
 
 if [[ "$1" == "--cmds" ]]; then
   for arg in "${ALL_IMAGES[@]}"
diff --git a/src/php/bin/run_all_docker_images.sh b/src/php/bin/run_all_docker_images.sh
index 65cfa628d91..88842b484ab 100755
--- a/src/php/bin/run_all_docker_images.sh
+++ b/src/php/bin/run_all_docker_images.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ set -e
 cd $(dirname $0)/../../..
 
 ALL_IMAGES=( grpc-ext grpc-src alpine centos7 php-src php-zts
-             fork-support i386 php8 php8.2 )
+             fork-support i386 php8.2 )
 
 if [[ "$1" == "--cmds" ]]; then
   for arg in "${ALL_IMAGES[@]}"
diff --git a/src/php/docker/alpine/Dockerfile b/src/php/docker/alpine/Dockerfile
index 0d22f83023a..ba90d586179 100644
--- a/src/php/docker/alpine/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/php/docker/alpine/Dockerfile
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-FROM php:7.4-alpine3.15
+FROM php:8.1-alpine3.15
 
 RUN apk add autoconf g++ make zlib-dev git bash wget linux-headers
 
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ ARG MAKEFLAGS=-j8
 
 WORKDIR /tmp
 
-RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-8.5.13.phar && \
-  mv phpunit-8.5.13.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
+RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-9.5.9.phar && \
+  mv phpunit-9.5.9.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
   chmod +x /usr/local/bin/phpunit
 
 
diff --git a/src/php/docker/centos7/Dockerfile b/src/php/docker/centos7/Dockerfile
index ae82aa7a335..d1610f87d6e 100644
--- a/src/php/docker/centos7/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/php/docker/centos7/Dockerfile
@@ -21,13 +21,12 @@ RUN yum update -y && \
 SHELL [ "/usr/bin/scl", "enable", "devtoolset-7"]
 
 RUN yum install epel-release -y && \
-  rpm -Uvh https://mirror.webtatic.com/yum/el7/webtatic-release.rpm && \
-  rpm -Uvh http://rpms.famillecollet.com/enterprise/remi-release-7.rpm && \
-  yum --enablerepo=remi-php74 install php -y && \
-  yum-config-manager --enable remi-php74 > /dev/null && \
+  yum install http://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-7.rpm -y && \
+  yum --enablerepo=remi-php81 install php -y && \
+  yum-config-manager --enable remi-php81 > /dev/null && \
   yum install -y make wget which \
-    gmp-devel libmpc-devel mpfr-devel yum-utils \                                                            
-    php-devel php-fpm php-pear && \                                                                          
+    gmp-devel libmpc-devel mpfr-devel yum-utils \                                                    
+    php-mbstring php-devel php-fpm php-pear && \                                                                          
   yum clean all -y  
 
 ARG MAKEFLAGS=-j8
@@ -35,8 +34,8 @@ ARG MAKEFLAGS=-j8
 
 WORKDIR /tmp
 
-RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-8.5.13.phar && \
-  mv phpunit-8.5.13.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
+RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-9.5.9.phar && \
+  mv phpunit-9.5.9.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
   chmod +x /usr/local/bin/phpunit
 
 
diff --git a/src/php/docker/grpc-ext/Dockerfile b/src/php/docker/grpc-ext/Dockerfile
index 9d8aac7be6a..8f4367f6a63 100644
--- a/src/php/docker/grpc-ext/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/php/docker/grpc-ext/Dockerfile
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-FROM php:7.4-buster
+FROM php:8.1-buster
 
 RUN apt-get -qq update && apt-get -qq -y upgrade && apt-get -qq install -y \
   autoconf automake git libtool pkg-config \
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ ARG MAKEFLAGS=-j8
 
 WORKDIR /tmp
 
-RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-8.5.13.phar && \
-  mv phpunit-8.5.13.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
+RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-9.5.9.phar && \
+  mv phpunit-9.5.9.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
   chmod +x /usr/local/bin/phpunit
 
 
diff --git a/src/php/docker/grpc-src/Dockerfile b/src/php/docker/grpc-src/Dockerfile
index a099b73a38d..b27b10d644a 100644
--- a/src/php/docker/grpc-src/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/php/docker/grpc-src/Dockerfile
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-FROM php:7.4-buster
+FROM php:8.1-buster
 
 RUN apt-get -qq update && apt-get -qq -y upgrade && apt-get -qq install -y \
   autoconf automake git libtool pkg-config \
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ ARG MAKEFLAGS=-j8
 
 WORKDIR /tmp
 
-RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-8.5.13.phar && \
-  mv phpunit-8.5.13.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
+RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-9.5.9.phar && \
+  mv phpunit-9.5.9.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
   chmod +x /usr/local/bin/phpunit
 
 
diff --git a/src/php/docker/i386/Dockerfile b/src/php/docker/i386/Dockerfile
index ab8da51af98..345a89a8d29 100644
--- a/src/php/docker/i386/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/php/docker/i386/Dockerfile
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-FROM i386/php:7.4
+FROM i386/php:8.1
 
 RUN apt-get -qq update && apt-get -qq -y upgrade && apt-get -qq install -y \
   autoconf automake git libtool pkg-config \
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ ARG MAKEFLAGS=-j8
 
 WORKDIR /tmp
 
-RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-8.5.13.phar && \
-  mv phpunit-8.5.13.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
+RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-9.5.9.phar && \
+  mv phpunit-9.5.9.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
   chmod +x /usr/local/bin/phpunit
 
 
diff --git a/src/php/docker/php-src/Dockerfile b/src/php/docker/php-src/Dockerfile
index a6f4fc9d5da..47f89535e4b 100644
--- a/src/php/docker/php-src/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/php/docker/php-src/Dockerfile
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ RUN apt-get -qq update && apt-get -qq -y upgrade && apt-get -qq install -y \
 
 WORKDIR /tmp
 
-RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-8.5.13.phar && \
-  mv phpunit-8.5.13.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
+RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-9.5.9.phar && \
+  mv phpunit-9.5.9.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
   chmod +x /usr/local/bin/phpunit
 
 
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ ARG MAKEFLAGS=-j8
 
 RUN git clone https://github.com/php/php-src .
 
-RUN git checkout php-7.4.33 && \
+RUN git checkout php-8.1.27 && \
   ./buildconf --force && \
   ./configure --build=x86_64-linux-gnu --enable-option-checking=fatal \
     --enable-debug --enable-pcntl \
diff --git a/src/php/docker/php-zts/Dockerfile b/src/php/docker/php-zts/Dockerfile
index ab817e8de6c..c5da22f549c 100644
--- a/src/php/docker/php-zts/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/php/docker/php-zts/Dockerfile
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-FROM php:7.4-zts-buster
+FROM php:8.1-zts-buster
 
 RUN apt-get -qq update && apt-get -qq -y upgrade && apt-get -qq install -y \
   autoconf automake git libtool pkg-config \
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ ARG MAKEFLAGS=-j8
 
 WORKDIR /tmp
 
-RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-8.5.13.phar && \
-  mv phpunit-8.5.13.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
+RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-9.5.9.phar && \
+  mv phpunit-9.5.9.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
   chmod +x /usr/local/bin/phpunit
 
 
diff --git a/src/php/docker/php8/Dockerfile b/src/php/docker/php8/Dockerfile
deleted file mode 100644
index 2094c5062c6..00000000000
--- a/src/php/docker/php8/Dockerfile
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
-# Copyright 2020 gRPC authors.
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-FROM php:8.1-buster
-
-RUN apt-get -qq update && apt-get -qq -y upgrade && apt-get -qq install -y \
-  autoconf automake git libtool pkg-config \
-  valgrind wget zlib1g-dev
-
-ARG MAKEFLAGS=-j8
-
-
-WORKDIR /tmp
-
-RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-9.5.9.phar && \
-  mv phpunit-9.5.9.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && \
-  chmod +x /usr/local/bin/phpunit
-
-
-WORKDIR /github/grpc
-
-COPY . .
-
-RUN pear package && \
-  find . -name grpc-*.tgz | xargs -I{} pecl install {}
-
-
-CMD ["/github/grpc/src/php/bin/run_tests.sh", "--skip-persistent-channel-tests", \
-     "--ignore-valgrind-undef-errors"]
-
diff --git a/templates/src/php/docker/alpine/Dockerfile.template b/templates/src/php/docker/alpine/Dockerfile.template
index b761a633712..58aafb8c560 100644
--- a/templates/src/php/docker/alpine/Dockerfile.template
+++ b/templates/src/php/docker/alpine/Dockerfile.template
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 
   WORKDIR /tmp
 
-  <%include file="../download_phpunit.include" />
+  <%include file="../download_phpunit9.include" />
 
   <%include file="../pecl_ext_build_src.include" />
 
diff --git a/templates/src/php/docker/centos7/Dockerfile.template b/templates/src/php/docker/centos7/Dockerfile.template
index b5b28645f60..9c6637f4fcf 100644
--- a/templates/src/php/docker/centos7/Dockerfile.template
+++ b/templates/src/php/docker/centos7/Dockerfile.template
@@ -23,13 +23,12 @@
   SHELL [ "/usr/bin/scl", "enable", "devtoolset-7"]
   
   RUN yum install epel-release -y && ${'\\'}
-    rpm -Uvh https://mirror.webtatic.com/yum/el7/webtatic-release.rpm && ${'\\'}
-    rpm -Uvh http://rpms.famillecollet.com/enterprise/remi-release-7.rpm && ${'\\'}
-    yum --enablerepo=remi-php74 install php -y && ${'\\'}
-    yum-config-manager --enable remi-php74 > /dev/null && ${'\\'}
+    yum install http://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-7.rpm -y && ${'\\'}
+    yum --enablerepo=remi-php81 install php -y && ${'\\'}
+    yum-config-manager --enable remi-php81 > /dev/null && ${'\\'}
     yum install -y make wget which ${'\\'}
-      gmp-devel libmpc-devel mpfr-devel yum-utils ${'\\'}                                                            
-      php-devel php-fpm php-pear && ${'\\'}                                                                          
+      gmp-devel libmpc-devel mpfr-devel yum-utils ${'\\'}                                                    
+      php-mbstring php-devel php-fpm php-pear && ${'\\'}                                                                          
     yum clean all -y  
 
   ARG MAKEFLAGS=-j8
@@ -37,7 +36,7 @@
 
   WORKDIR /tmp
 
-  <%include file="../download_phpunit.include" />
+  <%include file="../download_phpunit9.include" />
 
   <%include file="../pecl_ext_build_src.include" />
 
diff --git a/templates/src/php/docker/download_phpunit.include b/templates/src/php/docker/download_phpunit.include
deleted file mode 100644
index 11da1d8d0df..00000000000
--- a/templates/src/php/docker/download_phpunit.include
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-RUN wget https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-8.5.13.phar && ${'\\'}
-  mv phpunit-8.5.13.phar /usr/local/bin/phpunit && ${'\\'}
-  chmod +x /usr/local/bin/phpunit
diff --git a/templates/src/php/docker/grpc-ext/Dockerfile.template b/templates/src/php/docker/grpc-ext/Dockerfile.template
index 8b4b9e000f9..516b818e876 100644
--- a/templates/src/php/docker/grpc-ext/Dockerfile.template
+++ b/templates/src/php/docker/grpc-ext/Dockerfile.template
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 
   WORKDIR /tmp
 
-  <%include file="../download_phpunit.include" />
+  <%include file="../download_phpunit9.include" />
 
   <%include file="../pecl_ext_build_src.include" />
 
diff --git a/templates/src/php/docker/grpc-src/Dockerfile.template b/templates/src/php/docker/grpc-src/Dockerfile.template
index 40a2ab1da1e..888f99d35d2 100644
--- a/templates/src/php/docker/grpc-src/Dockerfile.template
+++ b/templates/src/php/docker/grpc-src/Dockerfile.template
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 
   WORKDIR /tmp
 
-  <%include file="../download_phpunit.include" />
+  <%include file="../download_phpunit9.include" />
 
   WORKDIR /github/grpc
 
diff --git a/templates/src/php/docker/i386/Dockerfile.template b/templates/src/php/docker/i386/Dockerfile.template
index 0c498fe6db3..ae3724d4b32 100644
--- a/templates/src/php/docker/i386/Dockerfile.template
+++ b/templates/src/php/docker/i386/Dockerfile.template
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 
   WORKDIR /tmp
 
-  <%include file="../download_phpunit.include" />
+  <%include file="../download_phpunit9.include" />
 
   <%include file="../pecl_ext_build_src.include" />
 
diff --git a/templates/src/php/docker/php-src/Dockerfile.template b/templates/src/php/docker/php-src/Dockerfile.template
index 87c7d1e9426..f90e57ee7c2 100644
--- a/templates/src/php/docker/php-src/Dockerfile.template
+++ b/templates/src/php/docker/php-src/Dockerfile.template
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 
   WORKDIR /tmp
 
-  <%include file="../download_phpunit.include" />
+  <%include file="../download_phpunit9.include" />
 
   WORKDIR /github/php-src
 
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 
   RUN git clone https://github.com/php/php-src .
 
-  RUN git checkout php-7.4.33 && ${'\\'}
+  RUN git checkout php-8.1.27 && ${'\\'}
     ./buildconf --force && ${'\\'}
     ./configure --build=x86_64-linux-gnu --enable-option-checking=fatal ${'\\'}
       --enable-debug --enable-pcntl ${'\\'}
diff --git a/templates/src/php/docker/php-zts/Dockerfile.template b/templates/src/php/docker/php-zts/Dockerfile.template
index cddcaaddb10..630f9225bbb 100644
--- a/templates/src/php/docker/php-zts/Dockerfile.template
+++ b/templates/src/php/docker/php-zts/Dockerfile.template
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 
   WORKDIR /tmp
 
-  <%include file="../download_phpunit.include" />
+  <%include file="../download_phpunit9.include" />
 
   <%include file="../pecl_ext_build_src.include" />
 
diff --git a/templates/src/php/docker/php8/Dockerfile.template b/templates/src/php/docker/php8/Dockerfile.template
deleted file mode 100644
index 558d15d947a..00000000000
--- a/templates/src/php/docker/php8/Dockerfile.template
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-%YAML 1.2
---- |
-  # Copyright 2020 gRPC authors.
-  #
-  # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-  # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-  # You may obtain a copy of the License at
-  #
-  #     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-  #
-  # Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-  # distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-  # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-  # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-  # limitations under the License.
-
-  FROM php:8.1-buster
-
-  RUN apt-get -qq update && apt-get -qq -y upgrade && apt-get -qq install -y ${'\\'}
-    autoconf automake git libtool pkg-config ${'\\'}
-    valgrind wget zlib1g-dev
-
-  ARG MAKEFLAGS=-j8
-
-
-  WORKDIR /tmp
-
-  <%include file="../download_phpunit9.include" />
-
-  <%include file="../pecl_ext_build_src.include" />
-
-  <%include file="../dockerfile_cmd.include" />
diff --git a/tools/buildgen/plugins/expand_version.py b/tools/buildgen/plugins/expand_version.py
index ddf53eabdc2..6877d1d0ee6 100755
--- a/tools/buildgen/plugins/expand_version.py
+++ b/tools/buildgen/plugins/expand_version.py
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ class Version:
         return "%d.%d.%d" % (self.major, self.minor, self.patch)
 
     def php_current_version(self):
-        return "7.4"
+        return "8.1"
 
     def php_debian_version(self):
         return "buster"
diff --git a/tools/internal_ci/helper_scripts/prepare_build_macos_rc b/tools/internal_ci/helper_scripts/prepare_build_macos_rc
index a0d9c285242..b5768a0c317 100644
--- a/tools/internal_ci/helper_scripts/prepare_build_macos_rc
+++ b/tools/internal_ci/helper_scripts/prepare_build_macos_rc
@@ -196,19 +196,22 @@ fi
 
 if [ "${PREPARE_BUILD_INSTALL_DEPS_PHP}" == "true" ]
 then
-  # php7.4 should already be installed on kokoro monterey image, so this should be instantaneous.
-  time brew install php@7.4 || true
-  export LDFLAGS="-L/usr/local/opt/php@7.4/lib ${LDFLAGS}"
-  export CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/local/opt/php@7.4/include ${CPPFLAGS}"
-  export PATH="/usr/local/opt/php@7.4/bin:/usr/local/opt/php@7.4/sbin:${PATH}"
+  time brew install php@8.1 || true
+  export LDFLAGS="-L/usr/local/opt/php@8.1/lib ${LDFLAGS}"
+  export CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/local/opt/php@8.1/include ${CPPFLAGS}"
+  export PATH="/usr/local/opt/php@8.1/bin:/usr/local/opt/php@8.1/sbin:${PATH}"
 
-  # the exit code from "brew install php@7.4" is useless
+  # the exit code from "brew install php@8.1" is useless
   # so instead we check if PHP was indeed installed successfully.
   # Failing early is better than cryptic errors later in the build process.
-  /usr/local/opt/php@7.4/bin/php --version
+  /usr/local/opt/php@8.1/bin/php --version
 
   # Workaround for https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/issues/41081
   mkdir -p /usr/local/lib/php/pecl
+
+  # Download the right version of phpunit to match PHP version
+  sudo curl -sSL https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-9.5.9.phar -o /usr/local/bin/phpunit
+  sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/phpunit
 fi
 
 # TODO(jtattermusch): better debugging of clock skew, remove once not needed