diff --git a/gnu/packages/compression.scm b/gnu/packages/compression.scm
index b6e9e7e7a0d..e4e1e7c5edc 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/compression.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/compression.scm
@@ -544,7 +544,7 @@ formats, including zstd, xz, gzip, and bgzf.")
 (define-public xz
   (package
    (name "xz")
-   (version "5.4.5")
+   (version "5.8.1")
    (source (origin
             (method url-fetch)
             (uri (list (string-append "http://tukaani.org/xz/xz-" version
@@ -553,7 +553,7 @@ formats, including zstd, xz, gzip, and bgzf.")
                                       version ".tar.gz")))
             (sha256
              (base32
-              "1mmpwl4kg1vs6n653gkaldyn43dpbjh8gpk7sk0gps5f6jwr0p0k"))))
+              "0hsmg58a27jd1vq0lc6yp405978c1nfhqwndl7f10v1mk6sjay2h"))))
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
    (arguments
     `(#:phases