diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index afd5a80fbd9..cbf95d3bc43 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -309,9 +309,9 @@
     <!-- project version -->
     <revision>2.27.0-SNAPSHOT</revision>
     <!-- Versions used on the site: no snapshots! -->
-    <site-log4j-api.version>2.26.0</site-log4j-api.version>
-    <site-log4j-core.version>2.26.0</site-log4j-core.version>
-    <site-log4j-layout-template-json.version>2.26.0</site-log4j-layout-template-json.version>
+    <site-log4j-api.version>2.26.1</site-log4j-api.version>
+    <site-log4j-core.version>2.26.1</site-log4j-core.version>
+    <site-log4j-layout-template-json.version>2.26.1</site-log4j-layout-template-json.version>
 
     <!-- =================
          Common properties
diff --git a/src/changelog/2.26.1/.release-notes.adoc.ftl b/src/changelog/2.26.1/.release-notes.adoc.ftl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c57582bf19b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/changelog/2.26.1/.release-notes.adoc.ftl
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+////
+    Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+    contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+    this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+    The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+    (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+    the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+         https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+    WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+    See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+    limitations under the License.
+////
+
+[${'#release-notes-' + release.version?replace("[^a-zA-Z0-9]", "-", "r")}]
+== ${release.version}
+
+<#if release.date?has_content>Release date:: ${release.date}</#if>
+
+This patch release delivers certain fixes on top of `2.26.0`.
+
+<#include "../.changelog.adoc.ftl">
diff --git a/src/changelog/2.26.1/.release.xml b/src/changelog/2.26.1/.release.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1f9ab11f54f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/changelog/2.26.1/.release.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!--
+  ~ Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+  ~ contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+  ~ this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+  ~ The ASF licenses this file to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+  ~ (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+  ~ the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+  ~
+  ~      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+  ~
+  ~ Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+  ~ distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+  ~ WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+  ~ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+  ~ limitations under the License.
+  -->
+<release xmlns="https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns"
+         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns/log4j-changelog-0.xsd"
+         date="2026-06-29" version="2.26.1"/>
diff --git a/src/changelog/2.26.1/LOG4J2-2006_Fix_RollingFileAppender_createOnDemand.xml b/src/changelog/2.26.1/LOG4J2-2006_Fix_RollingFileAppender_createOnDemand.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..33d6f9e9fe0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/changelog/2.26.1/LOG4J2-2006_Fix_RollingFileAppender_createOnDemand.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<entry xmlns="https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns"
+       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+       xsi:schemaLocation="
+           https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns
+           https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns/log4j-changelog-0.xsd"
+       type="fixed">
+  <issue id="2006" link="https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/issues/2006"/>
+  <issue id="4072" link="https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/pull/4072"/>
+  <description format="asciidoc">
+    Fix the `createOnDemand` behavior of `RollingFileAppender` to correctly defer file and directory creation
+    until the first log event, while preserving eager creation when disabled.
+  </description>
+</entry>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/changelog/2.26.1/LOG4J2-4129_Fix_DatePatternConverter_locale_without_timezone.xml b/src/changelog/2.26.1/LOG4J2-4129_Fix_DatePatternConverter_locale_without_timezone.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d2c4ff718df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/changelog/2.26.1/LOG4J2-4129_Fix_DatePatternConverter_locale_without_timezone.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<entry xmlns="https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns"
+       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+       xsi:schemaLocation="
+           https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns
+           https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns/log4j-changelog-0.xsd"
+       type="fixed">
+  <issue id="4129" link="https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/issues/4129"/>
+  <issue id="4130" link="https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/pull/4130"/>
+  <description format="asciidoc">
+    Improve documentation for locale handling in the Pattern Layout date pattern converter
+  </description>
+</entry>
+
diff --git a/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix-MapMessage-JSON-non-finite-number.xml b/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix-MapMessage-JSON-non-finite-number.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d46ebd21333
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix-MapMessage-JSON-non-finite-number.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<entry xmlns="https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns"
+       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+       xsi:schemaLocation="
+           https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns
+           https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns/log4j-changelog-0.xsd"
+       type="fixed">
+  <issue id="4163" link="https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/pull/4163"/>
+  <description format="asciidoc">
+    Fix handling of non-finite numbers while encoding `MapMessage` to JSON
+  </description>
+</entry>
diff --git a/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix-StructuredDataMessage-XML-encoding.xml b/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix-StructuredDataMessage-XML-encoding.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ae324c0d21d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix-StructuredDataMessage-XML-encoding.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<entry xmlns="https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns"
+       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+       xsi:schemaLocation="
+           https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns
+           https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns/log4j-changelog-0.xsd"
+       type="fixed">
+  <issue id="4136" link="https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/pull/4136"/>
+  <description format="asciidoc">
+    Fix encoding of `MSGID` and `SD-ID` fields of `StructuredDataMessage` to XML
+  </description>
+</entry>
diff --git a/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix-circular-reference-detection-for-exceptions-with-colliding.xml b/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix-circular-reference-detection-for-exceptions-with-colliding.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..63173fdacb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix-circular-reference-detection-for-exceptions-with-colliding.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<entry xmlns="https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns"
+       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+       xsi:schemaLocation="
+           https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns
+           https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns/log4j-changelog-0.xsd"
+       type="fixed">
+  <issue id="3933" link="https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/issues/3933"/>
+  <issue id="4133" link="https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/pull/4133"/>
+  <description format="asciidoc">
+    Fix stack trace rendering for exceptions with identity malfunction (e.g., colliding `equals()` and/or `hashCode()` implementations)
+  </description>
+</entry>
diff --git a/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix-log-disruptor-initialization-errors.xml b/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix-log-disruptor-initialization-errors.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..defea45980e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix-log-disruptor-initialization-errors.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<entry xmlns="https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns"
+       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+       xsi:schemaLocation="
+           https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns
+           https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns/log4j-changelog-0.xsd"
+       type="changed">
+    <issue id="2250" link="https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/issues/2250"/>
+    <issue id="4124" link="https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/pull/4124"/>
+    <description format="asciidoc">
+        Improve logging for `LinkageError` scenarios involving the LMAX Disruptor library
+    </description>
+</entry>
diff --git a/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix_configuration_source_url_leak.xml b/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix_configuration_source_url_leak.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e7c57d5a1a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix_configuration_source_url_leak.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<entry xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+       xmlns="https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns"
+       xsi:schemaLocation="https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns/log4j-changelog-0.xsd"
+       type="fixed">
+  <issue id="4127" link="https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/pull/4127"/>
+  <description format="asciidoc">Fix resource leaks in `ConfigurationSource` when loading configuration via URL fails</description>
+</entry>
diff --git a/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix_kafka_appender_retry_error_reporting.xml b/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix_kafka_appender_retry_error_reporting.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f3884f41e8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/changelog/2.26.1/fix_kafka_appender_retry_error_reporting.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<entry xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+       xmlns="https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns"
+       xsi:schemaLocation="https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns/log4j-changelog-0.xsd"
+       type="fixed">
+  <issue id="4125" link="https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/pull/4125"/>
+  <description format="asciidoc">Fix `KafkaAppender` reporting error to error handler even after a successful retry</description>
+</entry>
diff --git a/src/site/antora/modules/ROOT/pages/manual/pattern-layout.adoc b/src/site/antora/modules/ROOT/pages/manual/pattern-layout.adoc
index ebe36a6f529..4e3943066a7 100644
--- a/src/site/antora/modules/ROOT/pages/manual/pattern-layout.adoc
+++ b/src/site/antora/modules/ROOT/pages/manual/pattern-layout.adoc
@@ -467,8 +467,7 @@ You can also define custom date formats, see following examples:
 |%d{yyyy-mm-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSS'Z'}\{UTC}
 |2012-11-02T14:34:02.123Z
 
-
-|%d{dd-MMMM-yyyy}\{UTC}\{de-DE}
+|%d\{dd-MMMM-yyyy}\{UTC}\{de-DE}
 |02 November 2012 (UTC timezone, German locale)
 |===