diff --git a/Taskfile.yaml b/Taskfile.yaml
index 98b650e..0eef346 100644
--- a/Taskfile.yaml
+++ b/Taskfile.yaml
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ includes:
     flatten: true
     excludes: # put task names in here which are overwritten in this file
     - generate:code
-    - validate:test
     vars:
       NESTED_MODULES: api
       API_DIRS: '{{.ROOT_DIR}}/api/core/v1alpha1/...'
@@ -24,6 +23,7 @@ includes:
       COMPONENTS: 'mcp-operator'
       REPO_URL: 'https://github.com/openmcp-project/mcp-operator'
       GENERATE_DOCS_INDEX: "true"
+      ENVTEST_REQUIRED: "true"
   common: # imported a second time so that overwriting task definitions can call the overwritten task with a 'c:' prefix
     taskfile: hack/common/Taskfile_controller.yaml
     internal: true
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ includes:
       COMPONENTS: 'mcp-operator'
       REPO_URL: 'https://github.com/openmcp-project/mcp-operator'
       GENERATE_DOCS_INDEX: "true"
+      ENVTEST_REQUIRED: "true"
 
 tasks:
   generate:code: # overwrites shared code task to add external API fetching
@@ -58,14 +59,3 @@ tasks:
     cmds:
     - 'go run {{.ROOT_DIR}}/hack/external-apis/main.go'
     internal: true
-
-  validate:test: # overwrites the test task to add a dependency towards envtest
-    desc: "  Run all tests."
-    aliases:
-    - val:test
-    - v:test
-    run: once
-    deps:
-    - tools:envtest
-    cmds:
-    - task: c:validate:test
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 5ce27f9..f377888 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-v0.26.3-dev
\ No newline at end of file
+v0.26.4
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/charts/mcp-operator/Chart.yaml b/charts/mcp-operator/Chart.yaml
index 9e37227..1f0e24e 100644
--- a/charts/mcp-operator/Chart.yaml
+++ b/charts/mcp-operator/Chart.yaml
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ apiVersion: v2
 name: mcp-operator
 description: A Helm chart for the mcp-operator
 type: application
-version: v0.26.3
-appVersion: v0.26.3
+version: v0.26.4
+appVersion: v0.26.4
 home: https://github.com/openmcp-project/mcp-operator
 sources:
   - https://github.com/openmcp-project/mcp-operator
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/charts/mcp-operator/values.yaml b/charts/mcp-operator/values.yaml
index 1e42f59..9130691 100644
--- a/charts/mcp-operator/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/mcp-operator/values.yaml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ deployment:
 
 image:
   repository: ghcr.io/openmcp-project/github.com/openmcp-project/mcp-operator/images/mcp-operator
-  tag: v0.26.3
+  tag: v0.26.4
   pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
 
 imagePullSecrets: []
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 0793952..0f9fb05 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/onsi/gomega v1.36.2
 	github.com/openmcp-project/control-plane-operator v0.1.4
 	github.com/openmcp-project/controller-utils v0.4.2
-	github.com/openmcp-project/mcp-operator/api v0.26.3
+	github.com/openmcp-project/mcp-operator/api v0.26.4
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.9.1
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.6
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0
diff --git a/hack/common b/hack/common
index dc05f48..831ca8d 160000
--- a/hack/common
+++ b/hack/common
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit dc05f488b0dbff6e03142c184419a263821f2d70
+Subproject commit 831ca8db0244950020df419bcc6663dae63621da