diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 20dd631..332a47b 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-v0.26.0-dev
+v0.26.1
diff --git a/charts/mcp-operator/Chart.yaml b/charts/mcp-operator/Chart.yaml
index e05e9fc..366c6c8 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: v0.26.0
-appVersion: v0.26.0
+version: v0.26.1
+appVersion: v0.26.1
 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 dba82e9..6bccc71 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: v0.26.0
+  tag: v0.26.1
   pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
 
 imagePullSecrets: []
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index f9731be..ba723ef 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ 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 v0.26.0
+	github.com/openmcp-project/mcp-operator/api v0.26.1
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.9.1
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.6
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0