diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6b8d602ce..4cb26af93 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,31 @@
 
 All notable changes to this project are documented in this file.
 
+## 1.9.4
+
+**Release date:** 2026-08-07
+
+This patch release aligns Helm repository index loading with upstream Helm v4 by
+skipping empty entries, improves the error handling in the `Bucket` reconciler
+for optional fields in Azure responses, resolves OCI Helm charts by digest so
+that verification and download operate on the same content, and limits GCS
+static authentication to secrets holding service account keys. It also updates
+the fluxcd/pkg dependencies, which align the ECR host detection with upstream.
+
+Fixes:
+- Align index loading with upstream Helm v4
+  [#2121](https://github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/pull/2121)
+- Improve error handling in Bucket reconciliation
+  [#2123](https://github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/pull/2123)
+- Pin OCI chart verification by digest
+  [#2125](https://github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/pull/2125)
+- Limit GCS static authentication to service account keys
+  [#2130](https://github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/pull/2130)
+
+Improvements:
+- Update fluxcd/pkg dependencies
+  [#2131](https://github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/pull/2131)
+
 ## 1.9.3
 
 **Release date:** 2026-07-13
diff --git a/config/manager/kustomization.yaml b/config/manager/kustomization.yaml
index 043e00c86..429e4f482 100644
--- a/config/manager/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/config/manager/kustomization.yaml
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@ resources:
 images:
 - name: fluxcd/source-controller
   newName: fluxcd/source-controller
-  newTag: v1.9.3
+  newTag: v1.9.4
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 172a51736..7d8fae100 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/fluxcd/pkg/tar v1.2.0
 	github.com/fluxcd/pkg/testserver v0.14.0
 	github.com/fluxcd/pkg/version v0.16.0
-	github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/api v1.9.3
+	github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/api v1.9.4
 	github.com/go-git/go-billy/v5 v5.9.0
 	github.com/go-git/go-git/v5 v5.19.1
 	github.com/go-logr/logr v1.4.3