diff --git a/.node-version b/.node-version
index 3eb1386fcc..0a2925f0d9 100644
--- a/.node-version
+++ b/.node-version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-26.5.0
+26.5.1
diff --git a/changelog.d/0000-node-version-26.5.1.md b/changelog.d/0000-node-version-26.5.1.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1c1c3bb26d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/0000-node-version-26.5.1.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Bump the pinned dev/CI Node to 26.5.1 (latest stable), aligning `.node-version` with the compat-matrix oracle in `external-tools.json`.