diff --git a/.github/workflows/CI-wheels.yaml b/.github/workflows/CI-wheels.yaml
index f2f3a7d..d15f086 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/CI-wheels.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/CI-wheels.yaml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ on:
       - main
 
 env:
-  LIBZIM_DL_VERSION: "9.8.0"
+  LIBZIM_DL_VERSION: "9.8.1"
   MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET: "13.0"
   CIBW_ENVIRONMENT_PASS_LINUX: "LIBZIM_DL_VERSION"
   CIBW_BUILD_VERBOSITY: "3"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/Publish.yaml b/.github/workflows/Publish.yaml
index 95dad61..bf24388 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/Publish.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/Publish.yaml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ on:
       - published
 
 env:
-  LIBZIM_DL_VERSION: "9.8.0"
+  LIBZIM_DL_VERSION: "9.8.1"
   MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET: "13.0"
   CIBW_ENVIRONMENT_PASS_LINUX: "LIBZIM_DL_VERSION"
   # APPLE_SIGNING_KEYCHAIN_PATH set in prepare keychain step
diff --git a/.github/workflows/QA.yaml b/.github/workflows/QA.yaml
index 03faccd..00765c9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/QA.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/QA.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ name: QA
 on: [push]
 
 env:
-  LIBZIM_DL_VERSION: "9.8.0"
+  LIBZIM_DL_VERSION: "9.8.1"
   MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET: "13.0"
 
 jobs:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/Tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/Tests.yaml
index 26e9a1d..479feb1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/Tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/Tests.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ name: Tests
 on: [push]
 
 env:
-  LIBZIM_DL_VERSION: "9.8.0"
+  LIBZIM_DL_VERSION: "9.8.1"
   MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET: "13.0"
   # we want cython traces for coverage
   PROFILE: "1"
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       matrix:
         os: [macos-14, macos-15, macos-15-intel, windows-2022, windows-2025, ubuntu-22.04, ubuntu-24.04]
-        python: ["3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13", "3.13t", "3.14", "3.14t"]
+        python: ["3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13", "3.14", "3.14t"]
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index da08138..96e1b27 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+### Changed
+
+- Upgrade to libzim 9.8.1 and upgrade other Python dependencies, especially Cython 3.2.8 (#261)
+- Drop support for free-threaded CPython 3.13t (#261)
+
 ## [3.11.0] - 2026-07-09
 
 ### Changed
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index dec2a65..a9efbdf 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 [build-system]
 requires = [
-  "setuptools == 82.0.1",
+  "setuptools == 83.0.0",
   "wheel == 0.47.0",
-  "cython == 3.2.4",
+  "cython == 3.2.8",
   # https://github.com/pypa/cibuildwheel/blob/v2.22/cibuildwheel/resources/constraints.txt
   "delocate == 0.13.0 ; platform_system=='Windows'",
 ]
@@ -46,46 +46,46 @@ Donate = "https://www.kiwix.org/en/support-us/"
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
 scripts = [
-  "invoke==2.2.1",
+  "invoke==3.0.3",
 ]
 lint = [
-  "black==26.3.1",
-  "ruff==0.15.7",
+  "black==26.5.1",
+  "ruff==0.15.21",
   "libzim",
   "libzim[build]",
 ]
 check = [
-  "pyright==1.1.408",
+  "pyright==1.1.411",
   "libzim",
   "libzim[build]",
   "libzim[test]",
   "types-setuptools",
 ]
 test = [
-  "pytest==9.0.2",
-  "coverage==7.13.5",
+  "pytest==9.1.1",
+  "coverage==7.15.2",
   # for cython coverage plugin
   "libzim[build]",
 ]
 build = [
-  "setuptools == 82.0.1",
-  "wheel == 0.46.3",
-  "cython == 3.2.4",
+  "setuptools == 83.0.0",
+  "wheel == 0.47.0",
+  "cython == 3.2.8",
   "delocate == 0.13.0 ; platform_system=='Windows'",
 ]
 docs = [
   "mkdocs==1.6.1",
-  "mkdocstrings-python==2.0.3",
+  "mkdocstrings-python==2.0.5",
   "mkdocs-material==9.7.6",
-  "pymdown-extensions==10.21",
+  "pymdown-extensions==11.0.1",
   "mkdocs-gen-files==0.6.1",
   "mkdocs-literate-nav==0.6.3",
-  "mkdocs-include-markdown-plugin==7.2.1",
-  "griffe==2.0.0",
+  "mkdocs-include-markdown-plugin==7.3.0",
+  "griffe==2.1.0",
 ]
 dev = [
-  "pre-commit==4.5.1",
-  "ipython==9.11.0",
+  "pre-commit==4.6.0",
+  "ipython==9.15.0",
   "types-setuptools",
   "libzim[scripts]",
   "libzim[lint]",
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 99df790..4cd8474 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 
 
 class Config:
-    libzim_dl_version: str = os.getenv("LIBZIM_DL_VERSION", "9.8.0")
+    libzim_dl_version: str = os.getenv("LIBZIM_DL_VERSION", "9.8.1")
     use_system_libzim: bool = bool(os.getenv("USE_SYSTEM_LIBZIM") or False)
     download_libzim: bool = not bool(os.getenv("DONT_DOWNLOAD_LIBZIM") or False)