diff --git a/WORKSPACE b/WORKSPACE
index 65796e340d..414548395b 100644
--- a/WORKSPACE
+++ b/WORKSPACE
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ local_repository(
     path = "examples",
 )
 
+# Load common dependencies first to ensure we use the correct version
+load("//:protobuf_deps.bzl", "PROTOBUF_MAVEN_ARTIFACTS", "protobuf_deps")
+protobuf_deps()
+
 # Bazel platform rules.
 http_archive(
     name = "platforms",
@@ -28,10 +32,6 @@ load("@com_google_googletest//:googletest_deps.bzl", "googletest_deps")
 
 googletest_deps()
 
-# Load common dependencies.
-load("//:protobuf_deps.bzl", "PROTOBUF_MAVEN_ARTIFACTS", "protobuf_deps")
-protobuf_deps()
-
 load("@rules_jvm_external//:repositories.bzl", "rules_jvm_external_deps")
 
 rules_jvm_external_deps()
diff --git a/protobuf_deps.bzl b/protobuf_deps.bzl
index 4f30e00009..3ce3ee4857 100644
--- a/protobuf_deps.bzl
+++ b/protobuf_deps.bzl
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ def protobuf_deps():
         _github_archive(
             name = "com_google_absl",
             repo = "https://github.com/abseil/abseil-cpp",
-            commit = "78be63686ba732b25052be15f8d6dee891c05749",  # Abseil LTS 20230125
-            sha256 = "4f356a07b9ec06ef51f943928508566e992f621ed5fa4dd588865d7bed1284cd",
+            commit = "b971ac5250ea8de900eae9f95e06548d14cd95fe",  # Abseil LTS 20230125.2
+            sha256 = "f7c2cb2c5accdcbbbd5c0c59f241a988c0b1da2a3b7134b823c0bd613b1a6880",
         )
 
     if not native.existing_rule("zlib"):