diff --git a/gnu/packages/check.scm b/gnu/packages/check.scm
index 107792db308..e87cf74f403 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/check.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/check.scm
@@ -1063,16 +1063,16 @@ report generation engine.")
 (define-public googletest
   (package
     (name "googletest")
-    (version "1.12.1")
+    (version "1.17.0")
     (source
      (origin
        (method git-fetch)
        (uri (git-reference
              (url "https://github.com/google/googletest")
-             (commit (string-append "release-" version))))
+             (commit (string-append "v" version))))
        (file-name (git-file-name name version))
        (sha256
-        (base32 "1cv55x3amwrvfan9pr8dfnicwr8r6ar3yf6cg9v6nykd6m2v3qsv"))))
+        (base32 "1zn701fgmbk29y45p49sajaswm01i2bv89ds2kkbiq8i0p2cr08w"))))
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (arguments
      `(#:tests? #f
@@ -1086,21 +1086,6 @@ discovery, death tests, assertions, parameterized tests and XML test report
 generation.")
     (license license:bsd-3)))
 
-(define-public googletest-1.17
-  (package
-    (inherit googletest)
-    (name "googletest")
-    (version "1.17.0")
-    (source
-     (origin
-       (method git-fetch)
-       (uri (git-reference
-              (url "https://github.com/google/googletest")
-              (commit (string-append "v" version))))
-       (file-name (git-file-name name version))
-       (sha256
-        (base32 "1zn701fgmbk29y45p49sajaswm01i2bv89ds2kkbiq8i0p2cr08w"))))))
-
 (define-public googletest-1.13
   (package
     (inherit googletest)
@@ -1116,6 +1101,21 @@ generation.")
        (sha256
         (base32 "1x5lr1k4kgw3i8d7c12vp759p0w8c8r2y8lwvqswswxvwygw8lid"))))))
 
+(define-public googletest-1.12
+  (package
+    (inherit googletest-1.13)
+    (name "googletest")
+    (version "1.12.1")
+    (source
+     (origin
+       (method git-fetch)
+       (uri (git-reference
+              (url "https://github.com/google/googletest")
+              (commit (string-append "v" version))))
+       (file-name (git-file-name name version))
+       (sha256
+        (base32 "1cv55x3amwrvfan9pr8dfnicwr8r6ar3yf6cg9v6nykd6m2v3qsv"))))))
+
 (define-public googletest-1.8
   (package
     (inherit googletest)
diff --git a/gnu/packages/compression.scm b/gnu/packages/compression.scm
index 21575bd42d9..6c43fc577ba 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/compression.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/compression.scm
@@ -1897,11 +1897,11 @@ speed.")
     (outputs '("out"))
     (inputs
      `(,@(if (%current-target-system)
-             `(("googletest" ,googletest))
+             `(("googletest" ,googletest-1.8))
              '())))
     (native-inputs
      `(,@(if (%current-system)
-             `(("googletest" ,googletest))
+             `(("googletest" ,googletest-1.8))
              '())))
     (arguments
      `(#:phases
diff --git a/gnu/packages/cpp.scm b/gnu/packages/cpp.scm
index c21d8d8b611..c9babf188d1 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/cpp.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/cpp.scm
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ data structures for C++.")
         (base32 "08w3ppd43wx9vq641ljw5izjd7p5w7drynw13ll9shwy41ydif9n"))))
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (native-inputs
-     (list googletest pkg-config))
+     (list googletest-1.13 pkg-config))
     (synopsis "Guidelines Support Library")
     (description "c++-gsl contains functions and types that are suggested for
 use by the C++ Core Guidelines maintained by the Standard C++ Foundation.")
diff --git a/gnu/packages/crypto.scm b/gnu/packages/crypto.scm
index 1182abf5b05..21b573ff293 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/crypto.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/crypto.scm
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@
                ;; TODO: perhaps infer #:tests?
                (if #$(%current-target-system)
                    "OFF" "ON")))))
-    (native-inputs (list googletest))
+    (native-inputs (list googletest-1.12))
     (home-page "https://github.com/google/crc32c")
     (synopsis "Cyclic redundancy check")
     (description
diff --git a/gnu/packages/engineering.scm b/gnu/packages/engineering.scm
index aa0de8548cc..a82385bb444 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/engineering.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/engineering.scm
@@ -2584,7 +2584,7 @@ for reverse engineers.")
                         (mkdir-p dir)
                         (symlink act (string-append dir "/act.linux"))))))))
     (native-inputs
-     (list automatic-component-toolkit googletest pkg-config))
+     (list automatic-component-toolkit googletest-1.12 pkg-config))
     (inputs
      (list `(,util-linux "lib") libzip libressl zlib))
     (synopsis "Implementation of the 3D Manufacturing Format (3MF) file standard")
@@ -4522,7 +4522,7 @@ facilitate the communication between Cura and its backend and similar code.")
         (base32 "0xp2r0m5wwfsh9wdb3biqzvfqfz5jsmyw4bww93aksw0rgli07bp"))))
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (native-inputs
-     (list googletest pkg-config))
+     (list googletest-1.13 pkg-config))
     (inputs
      (list libarcus protobuf stb-image))
     (arguments
diff --git a/gnu/packages/fontutils.scm b/gnu/packages/fontutils.scm
index 3b252e5c6a4..57f91e5f7af 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/fontutils.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/fontutils.scm
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ anti-aliased glyph bitmap generation with 256 gray levels.")
                (base32
                 "17z8cxv48rfig5k7j3xk3bmbf7rm3kxsc3bazix96l0wws58r569"))))
     (build-system meson-build-system)
-    (native-inputs (list googletest pkg-config))
+    (native-inputs (list googletest-1.12 pkg-config))
     (inputs (list freetype lz4 woff2 zlib))
     (home-page "https://github.com/khaledhosny/ots")
     (synopsis "Sanitizer for OpenType fonts")
diff --git a/gnu/packages/games.scm b/gnu/packages/games.scm
index d66250ad7e9..83556f264e8 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/games.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/games.scm
@@ -10625,8 +10625,8 @@ a fortress beyond the forbidden swamp.")
                        #:tests? tests? #:test-target "tests" args)
                 (invoke "tests/tests")))))))
     (native-inputs
-     (list (package-source googletest)
-           googletest
+     (list (package-source googletest-1.12)
+           googletest-1.12
            pkg-config))
     (inputs
      (list c-template-sort
diff --git a/gnu/packages/glib.scm b/gnu/packages/glib.scm
index aed634df3c6..d1b5ef657dd 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/glib.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/glib.scm
@@ -1329,7 +1329,7 @@ Some codes examples can be find at:
             (lambda* (#:rest args)
               (apply (assoc-ref gnu:%standard-phases 'check)
                      #:test-target "sdbus-c++-unit-tests" args))))))
-    (native-inputs (list googletest-1.17 pkg-config))
+    (native-inputs (list googletest pkg-config))
     (inputs (list expat))
     (propagated-inputs (list elogind)) ;required by sdbus-c++.pc
     (home-page "https://github.com/Kistler-Group/sdbus-cpp")
diff --git a/gnu/packages/gnome.scm b/gnu/packages/gnome.scm
index 8e396f38564..85d9302c917 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gnome.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gnome.scm
@@ -1865,7 +1865,7 @@ either on a local, or remote machine via a number of methods.")
            flex
            gettext-minimal
            `(,glib "bin")
-           googletest
+           googletest-1.12
            `(,gtk+ "bin")
            itstool
            pkg-config
diff --git a/gnu/packages/machine-learning.scm b/gnu/packages/machine-learning.scm
index 35196bf00a5..819f248bd16 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/machine-learning.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/machine-learning.scm
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ distributions.")
                 (when tests?
                   (with-directory-excursion "tests"
                     (invoke "./fann_tests"))))))))
-      (native-inputs (list googletest))
+      (native-inputs (list googletest-1.8))
       (home-page "https://leenissen.dk/")
       (synopsis "Fast Artificial Neural Network")
       (description
@@ -3885,7 +3885,7 @@ and Darknet.")
              fxdiv
              psimd
              pthreadpool
-             googletest))
+             googletest-1.12))
       (native-inputs
        `(,python
          ,@(if (target-x86-64?) (list python-peachpy) '())
@@ -3935,7 +3935,7 @@ and Darknet.")
                   (("(TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES.*) fp16 (.*)" _ before after)
                    (string-append before " " after))))))))
       (inputs (list clog cpuinfo fp16 fxdiv psimd pthreadpool))
-      (native-inputs (list googletest googlebenchmark))
+      (native-inputs (list googletest-1.12 googlebenchmark))
       (home-page "https://github.com/pytorch/qnnpack")
       (synopsis "Quantized Neural Network PACKage")
       (description "QNNPACK is a library for low-precision neural network
@@ -4682,7 +4682,7 @@ PyTorch.")
             fxdiv
             gemmlowp
             gloo
-            googletest
+            googletest-1.12
             googlebenchmark
             libuv
             miniz-for-pytorch
diff --git a/gnu/packages/maths.scm b/gnu/packages/maths.scm
index 087473c3626..da005234dea 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/maths.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/maths.scm
@@ -8360,7 +8360,7 @@ find_package(louvain_communities)")
    (inputs (list btor2tools
                  boost cryptominisat louvain-community sqlite
                  gmp))
-   (native-inputs (list googletest pkg-config python-wrapper))
+   (native-inputs (list googletest-1.8 pkg-config python-wrapper))
    (home-page "https://boolector.github.io")
    (synopsis "Bitvector-based theory solver")
    (description "Boolector is a @acronym{SMT, satisfiability modulo theories}
@@ -10703,7 +10703,7 @@ high-performance multidimensional array containers for scientific computing.")
                 (patches (search-patches "fxdiv-system-libraries.patch"))))
       (build-system cmake-build-system)
       (inputs
-       (list googletest googlebenchmark))
+       (list googletest-1.8 googlebenchmark))
       (synopsis
        "C++ library for division via fixed-point multiplication by inverse")
       (description
@@ -10758,7 +10758,7 @@ when an application performs repeated divisions by the same divisor.")
       (native-inputs
        (list python-wrapper))
       (inputs
-       (list psimd googletest googlebenchmark))
+       (list psimd googletest-1.8 googlebenchmark))
       (synopsis "C++ library for half-precision floating point formats")
       (description
        "This header-only C++ library implements conversion to and from
@@ -11138,7 +11138,7 @@ systems and symbolic manipulations.")
                 ;; tensorflow.
                 "-DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS=-fPIC ")))
       (inputs (list cpuinfo))
-      (native-inputs (list googletest))
+      (native-inputs (list googletest-1.12))
       (home-page "https://github.com/google/ruy")
       (synopsis "Matrix multiplication library")
       (description
diff --git a/gnu/packages/parallel.scm b/gnu/packages/parallel.scm
index 884efee4322..1bdf6317e7b 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/parallel.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/parallel.scm
@@ -611,7 +611,7 @@ command---e.g., @code{%salloc}, @code{%sbatch}, etc.")
       (build-system cmake-build-system)
       (arguments '(#:configure-flags '("-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON")))
       (inputs
-       (list googletest googlebenchmark fxdiv))
+       (list googletest-1.12 googlebenchmark fxdiv))
       (synopsis "Efficient thread pool implementation")
       (description
        "The pthreadpool library implements an efficient and portable thread
@@ -655,7 +655,7 @@ features.")
                   (string-append m "\
 GTEST_SKIP() << \"See https://github.com/pytorch/cpuinfo/issues/132\";"))))))))
       (inputs
-       (list googletest googlebenchmark))
+       (list googletest-1.13 googlebenchmark))
       (synopsis "C/C++ library to obtain information about the CPU")
       (description
        "The cpuinfo library provides a C/C++ and a command-line interface to
@@ -679,7 +679,7 @@ processor name, cache information, and topology information.")
                    (add-after 'unpack 'chdir
                      (lambda _
                        (chdir "deps/clog"))))))
-    (native-inputs (list googletest))
+    (native-inputs (list googletest-1.8))
     (inputs '())
     (synopsis "C-style logging library based on printf")
     (description
diff --git a/gnu/packages/password-utils.scm b/gnu/packages/password-utils.scm
index a41518a80f5..7b70c273651 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/password-utils.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/password-utils.scm
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ in an encrypted database, which is locked with a master key or key file.")
       #:configure-flags
       #~(list "-DGTEST_BUILD=OFF")))
     (native-inputs
-     (list gettext-minimal googletest perl zip))
+     (list gettext-minimal googletest-1.13 perl zip))
     (inputs
      (list curl
            file
diff --git a/gnu/packages/serialization.scm b/gnu/packages/serialization.scm
index 87260ca97e9..bbf68e5f804 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/serialization.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/serialization.scm
@@ -551,7 +551,7 @@ character limit for implicit keys.")
                              "-DYAML_USE_SYSTEM_GTEST=ON")))
       (native-inputs
        (list python))
-      (inputs (list googletest))
+      (inputs (list googletest-1.8))
       (home-page "https://github.com/jbeder/yaml-cpp")
       (synopsis "YAML parser and emitter in C++")
       (description "YAML parser and emitter in C++ matching the YAML 1.2 spec.")
@@ -1061,7 +1061,7 @@ Apache Arrow-based Feather binary columnar serialization data frame format.")
               (lambda _
                 (copy-recursively
                  "include" (string-append #$output "/include")))))))
-      (native-inputs (list googletest))
+      (native-inputs (list googletest-1.12))
       (home-page "https://github.com/google/libnop")
       (synopsis "C++ Native Object Protocols")
       (description "@code{libnop} is a header-only library for serializing and
diff --git a/gnu/packages/simulation.scm b/gnu/packages/simulation.scm
index 78bb45685c3..c538854524d 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/simulation.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/simulation.scm
@@ -1419,7 +1419,7 @@ sequences that lead from a given start lanelet to some goal lanelet(s).")
                   python
                   xerces-c
                   zlib))
-    (native-inputs (list googletest python))
+    (native-inputs (list googletest-1.8 python))
     (home-page "https://eclipse.org/sumo")
     (synopsis "Traffic simulator")
     (description "@acronym{SUMO, Simulation of Urban MObility} is a traffic
diff --git a/gnu/packages/telephony.scm b/gnu/packages/telephony.scm
index 251d77c9a40..6a50a60271c 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/telephony.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/telephony.scm
@@ -1162,7 +1162,7 @@ It supports the following smartphones:
     (inputs
      (list gsl libpcap lksctp-tools ncurses/tinfo openssl))
     (native-inputs
-     (list googletest pkg-config))
+     (list googletest-1.8 pkg-config))
     (synopsis "Performance testing tool for the SIP protocol")
     (description "SIPp can be used to test many real SIP equipements like SIP
 proxies, B2BUAs, SIP media servers, SIP/x gateways, and SIP PBXes.  It is also
diff --git a/gnu/packages/web.scm b/gnu/packages/web.scm
index e34b76664fa..1cd214d0027 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/web.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/web.scm
@@ -1825,7 +1825,7 @@ current version of any major web browser.")
                   (("GTESTSRC_FOUND)")
                    "GTest_FOUND)")))))))
       (native-inputs (list valgrind/pinned))
-      (inputs (list googletest))
+      (inputs (list googletest-1.8))
       (home-page "https://github.com/Tencent/rapidjson")
       (synopsis "JSON parser/generator for C++ with both SAX/DOM style API")
       (description