diff --git a/.pax/pre-packaging.sh b/.pax/pre-packaging.sh
index 15bad07711..531bef0ea3 100755
--- a/.pax/pre-packaging.sh
+++ b/.pax/pre-packaging.sh
@@ -190,8 +190,8 @@ BASE_DIR=$(
   pwd
 ) # <something>/.pax
 
-# use node v16 to build
-export NODE_HOME=/ZOWE/node/node-v16.20.1-os390-s390x
+# use node v18 to build
+export NODE_HOME=/ZOWE/node/node-v18.16.0
 export JAVA_HOME=/ZOWE/node/J17.0_64
 export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH
 ZOWE_ROOT_DIR="${BASE_DIR}/content"