diff --git a/tools/dep_updaters/c-ares.kbx b/tools/dep_updaters/c-ares.kbx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..720f1df36917d7
Binary files /dev/null and b/tools/dep_updaters/c-ares.kbx differ
diff --git a/tools/dep_updaters/update-c-ares.sh b/tools/dep_updaters/update-c-ares.sh
index f990430d9f6aee..ca77ee52183d64 100755
--- a/tools/dep_updaters/update-c-ares.sh
+++ b/tools/dep_updaters/update-c-ares.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-set -e
+set -ex
 # Shell script to update c-ares in the source tree to a specific version
 
 BASE_DIR=$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/../.." && pwd)
@@ -22,11 +22,11 @@ if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`FetchError: ${res.status} ${res.statusText}`, { ca
 const { tag_name, assets } = await res.json();
 const { browser_download_url, name } = assets.find(({ name }) => name.endsWith('.tar.gz'));
 if(!browser_download_url || !name) throw new Error('No tarball found');
-console.log(`${tag_name} ${browser_download_url} ${name}`);
+console.log(`${tag_name.replace(/^v/, '')} ${browser_download_url}`);
 EOF
 )"
 
-IFS=' ' read -r NEW_VERSION NEW_VERSION_URL ARES_TARBALL <<EOF
+IFS=' ' read -r NEW_VERSION NEW_VERSION_URL <<EOF
 $NEW_VERSION_METADATA
 EOF
 
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ compare_dependency_version "c-ares" "$NEW_VERSION" "$CURRENT_VERSION"
 echo "Making temporary workspace"
 
 WORKSPACE=$(mktemp -d 2> /dev/null || mktemp -d -t 'tmp')
+ARES_TARBALL="$WORKSPACE/c-ares.tgz"
 
 cleanup () {
   EXIT_CODE=$?
@@ -47,29 +48,29 @@ cleanup () {
 
 trap cleanup INT TERM EXIT
 
-cd "$WORKSPACE"
-
 echo "Fetching c-ares source archive"
 curl -sL -o "$ARES_TARBALL" "$NEW_VERSION_URL"
-log_and_verify_sha256sum "c-ares" "$ARES_TARBALL"
-gzip -dc "$ARES_TARBALL" | tar xf -
-rm -- "$ARES_TARBALL"
 
-FOLDER=$(ls -d -- */)
+echo "Verifying PGP signature"
+curl -sL -o "$ARES_TARBALL.asc" "$NEW_VERSION_URL.asc"
+gpgv --keyring "$BASE_DIR/tools/dep_updaters/c-ares.kbx" "${ARES_TARBALL}.asc" "${ARES_TARBALL}"
+
+log_and_verify_sha256sum "c-ares" "$ARES_TARBALL"
+tar -C "$WORKSPACE" -xzf "$ARES_TARBALL"
 
-mv -- "$FOLDER" cares
+ARES_FOLDER=$(find "$WORKSPACE" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -print -quit)
 
 echo "Removing tests"
-rm -rf "$WORKSPACE/cares/test"
+rm -rf "$ARES_FOLDER/test"
 
 echo "Copying existing .gitignore, config, gyp and gn files"
-cp -R "$DEPS_DIR/cares/config" "$WORKSPACE/cares"
-cp "$DEPS_DIR/cares/.gitignore" "$WORKSPACE/cares"
-cp "$DEPS_DIR/cares/cares.gyp" "$WORKSPACE/cares"
-cp "$DEPS_DIR/cares/"*.gn "$DEPS_DIR/cares/"*.gni "$WORKSPACE/cares"
+cp -R "$DEPS_DIR/cares/config" "$ARES_FOLDER"
+cp "$DEPS_DIR/cares/.gitignore" "$ARES_FOLDER"
+cp "$DEPS_DIR/cares/cares.gyp" "$ARES_FOLDER"
+cp "$DEPS_DIR/cares/"*.gn "$DEPS_DIR/cares/"*.gni "$ARES_FOLDER"
 
 echo "Replacing existing c-ares"
-replace_dir "$DEPS_DIR/cares" "$WORKSPACE/cares"
+replace_dir "$DEPS_DIR/cares" "$ARES_FOLDER"
 
 echo "Updating cares.gyp"
 "$NODE" "$ROOT/tools/dep_updaters/update-c-ares.mjs"