diff --git a/changelog/69131.fixed.md b/changelog/69131.fixed.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f3893efa6b04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/69131.fixed.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fixed `kernelpkg.upgrade` on Debian 13 (trixie) and other distros that ship a kernelrelease containing characters outside `[\d.-]` (for example `6.12.86+deb13-amd64`). `kernelpkg_linux_apt._kernel_type` now parses such releases instead of raising `AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'group'`.
diff --git a/salt/modules/kernelpkg_linux_apt.py b/salt/modules/kernelpkg_linux_apt.py
index 33cef3eaaa50..8d18ef2e088a 100644
--- a/salt/modules/kernelpkg_linux_apt.py
+++ b/salt/modules/kernelpkg_linux_apt.py
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ def _kernel_type():
     """
     Parse the kernel name and return its type
     """
-    return re.match(r"^[\d.-]+-(.+)$", active()).group(1)
+    return re.match(r"^[\w.+\-~]+-([^-]+)$", active()).group(1)
 
 
 def _cmp_version(item1, item2):
diff --git a/tests/unit/modules/test_kernelpkg_linux_apt.py b/tests/unit/modules/test_kernelpkg_linux_apt.py
index cf56deb4a4ad..b38a71529317 100644
--- a/tests/unit/modules/test_kernelpkg_linux_apt.py
+++ b/tests/unit/modules/test_kernelpkg_linux_apt.py
@@ -114,3 +114,15 @@ def test_remove_error(self):
                         self._kernelpkg.remove,
                         release=self.KERNEL_LIST[0],
                     )
+
+    def test_kernel_type_with_trixie_release(self):
+        """
+        Test - _kernel_type handles a Debian 13 kernelrelease that contains '+'
+        """
+        with patch.object(
+            self._kernelpkg, "active", return_value="6.12.86+deb13-amd64"
+        ):
+            self.assertEqual(
+                self._kernelpkg._kernel_type(),  # pylint: disable=protected-access
+                "amd64",
+            )