diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 0f69d076f0f7..23f403ae8fcb 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/containernetworking/cni v1.2.3
 	github.com/containernetworking/plugins v1.5.1
 	github.com/coreos/go-systemd/v22 v22.5.0
-	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc
+	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1
 	github.com/distribution/reference v0.6.0
 	github.com/docker/go-events v0.0.0-20190806004212-e31b211e4f1c
 	github.com/docker/go-metrics v0.0.1
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/munnerz/goautoneg v0.0.0-20191010083416-a7dc8b61c822 // indirect
 	github.com/mxk/go-flowrate v0.0.0-20140419014527-cca7078d478f // indirect
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1 // indirect
-	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.1-0.20181226105442-5d4384ee4fb2 // indirect
+	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/prometheus/client_model v0.6.1 // indirect
 	github.com/prometheus/common v0.55.0 // indirect
 	github.com/prometheus/procfs v0.15.1 // indirect
@@ -151,3 +151,18 @@ require (
 	sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.4.0 // indirect
 	tags.cncf.io/container-device-interface/specs-go v0.8.0 // indirect
 )
+
+exclude (
+	// These dependencies were updated to "master" in some modules we depend on,
+	// but have no code-changes since their last release. Unfortunately, this also
+	// causes a ripple effect, forcing all users of the containerd module to also
+	// update these dependencies to an unrelease / un-tagged version.
+	//
+	// Both these dependencies will unlikely do a new release in the near future,
+	// so exclude these versions so that we can downgrade to the current release.
+	//
+	// For additional details, see this PR and links mentioned in that PR:
+	// https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/pull/5830#issuecomment-2569960859
+	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc
+	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.1-0.20181226105442-5d4384ee4fb2
+)
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 455584edf3ac..c6e928a21a35 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -714,9 +714,8 @@ github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.5 h1:ZtcqGrnekaHpVLArFSe4HK5DoKx1T0rq2DwVB
 github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.5/go.mod h1:tgQtvFlXSQOSOSIRvRPT7W67SCa46tRHOmNcaadrF8o=
 github.com/creack/pty v1.1.9/go.mod h1:oKZEueFk5CKHvIhNR5MUki03XCEU+Q6VDXinZuGJ33E=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
-github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc h1:U9qPSI2PIWSS1VwoXQT9A3Wy9MM3WgvqSxFWenqJduM=
-github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/distribution/reference v0.6.0 h1:0IXCQ5g4/QMHHkarYzh5l+u8T3t73zM5QvfrDyIgxBk=
 github.com/distribution/reference v0.6.0/go.mod h1:BbU0aIcezP1/5jX/8MP0YiH4SdvB5Y4f/wlDRiLyi3E=
 github.com/docker/go-events v0.0.0-20190806004212-e31b211e4f1c h1:+pKlWGMw7gf6bQ+oDZB4KHQFypsfjYlq/C4rfL7D3g8=
@@ -1038,9 +1037,8 @@ github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1 h1:FEBLx1zS214owpjy7qsBeixbURkuhQAwrK5UwLGTwt4=
 github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1/go.mod h1:bwawxfHBFNV+L2hUp1rHADufV3IMtnDRdf1r5NINEl0=
 github.com/pkg/sftp v1.10.1/go.mod h1:lYOWFsE0bwd1+KfKJaKeuokY15vzFx25BLbzYYoAxZI=
 github.com/pkg/sftp v1.13.1/go.mod h1:3HaPG6Dq1ILlpPZRO0HVMrsydcdLt6HRDccSgb87qRg=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
-github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.1-0.20181226105442-5d4384ee4fb2 h1:Jamvg5psRIccs7FGNTlIRMkT8wgtp5eCXdBlqhYGL6U=
-github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.1-0.20181226105442-5d4384ee4fb2/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
 github.com/prometheus/client_golang v0.9.1/go.mod h1:7SWBe2y4D6OKWSNQJUaRYU/AaXPKyh/dDVn+NZz0KFw=
 github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.0.0/go.mod h1:db9x61etRT2tGnBNRi70OPL5FsnadC4Ky3P0J6CfImo=
 github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.1.0/go.mod h1:I1FGZT9+L76gKKOs5djB6ezCbFQP1xR9D75/vuwEF3g=
diff --git a/vendor/modules.txt b/vendor/modules.txt
index 16e1d9c92fd4..6d6a04845965 100644
--- a/vendor/modules.txt
+++ b/vendor/modules.txt
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ github.com/coreos/go-systemd/v22/dbus
 # github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.5
 ## explicit; go 1.11
 github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2/md2man
-# github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc
+# github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1
 ## explicit
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew/spew
 # github.com/distribution/reference v0.6.0
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2/unstable
 # github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1
 ## explicit
 github.com/pkg/errors
-# github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.1-0.20181226105442-5d4384ee4fb2
+# github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0
 ## explicit
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib/difflib
 # github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.20.5