diff --git a/src/python/ensembl/io/genomio/assembly/status.py b/src/python/ensembl/io/genomio/assembly/status.py
index 67984df60..797f4411f 100644
--- a/src/python/ensembl/io/genomio/assembly/status.py
+++ b/src/python/ensembl/io/genomio/assembly/status.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
 
 
 DATASETS_SINGULARITY = {
-    "datasets_version_url": "library://lcampbell/ensembl-genomio/ncbi-datasets-v16.10.0:latest",
+    "datasets_version_url": "library://lcampbell/ensembl-genomio/ncbi-datasets-v16.12.1:latest",
 }
 
 
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ def main() -> None:
         type=str,
         required=False,
         metavar="URL",
-        help="datasets version: E.g. library://lcampbell/ensembl-genomio/ncbi-datasets-v16.10.0:latest",
+        help="datasets version: E.g. library://lcampbell/ensembl-genomio/ncbi-datasets-v16.12.1:latest",
     )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--cache_dir",