diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 62f8e64f9..92263332b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,23 @@
 
 All notable changes to this project are documented in this file.
 
+## 1.8.1
+
+**Release date:** 2026-02-27
+
+This patch release fixes a regression introduced in 1.8.0 where commit
+status events were dropped.
+
+Fixes:
+- Fix commit status providers requiring only commit event key
+  [#1247](https://github.com/fluxcd/notification-controller/pull/1247)
+
+Improvements:
+- Remove no longer needed workaround for Flux 2.8
+  [#1244](https://github.com/fluxcd/notification-controller/pull/1244)
+- Update fluxcd/pkg dependencies
+  [#1250](https://github.com/fluxcd/notification-controller/pull/1250)
+
 ## 1.8.0
 
 **Release date:** 2026-02-17
diff --git a/config/manager/kustomization.yaml b/config/manager/kustomization.yaml
index 6b7ea0603..03c334ad6 100644
--- a/config/manager/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/config/manager/kustomization.yaml
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@ resources:
 images:
   - name: fluxcd/notification-controller
     newName: fluxcd/notification-controller
-    newTag: v1.8.0
+    newTag: v1.8.1
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 37a618d5a..609d3bc6e 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/chainguard-dev/git-urls v1.0.2
 	github.com/elazarl/goproxy v1.8.1
 	github.com/fluxcd/cli-utils v0.37.2-flux.1
-	github.com/fluxcd/notification-controller/api v1.8.0
+	github.com/fluxcd/notification-controller/api v1.8.1
 	github.com/fluxcd/pkg/apis/event v0.24.0
 	github.com/fluxcd/pkg/apis/meta v1.25.0
 	github.com/fluxcd/pkg/auth v0.38.3