diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 35406bf..dcfc413 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
     <maven.compiler.release>17</maven.compiler.release>
 
     <!-- Pinned Rift engine release the natives + version preflight track (no leading 'v'). -->
-    <rift.engine.version>0.18.0</rift.engine.version>
+    <rift.engine.version>0.18.1</rift.engine.version>
 
     <!-- rift-java-bom's resolve-through-bom invoker IT is self-validation, not a prerequisite for
          the BOM artifact. It runs at integration-test (before install) and needs network to resolve
diff --git a/rift-java-conformance/README.md b/rift-java-conformance/README.md
index 95fb8be..c9014d7 100644
--- a/rift-java-conformance/README.md
+++ b/rift-java-conformance/README.md
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ holding `manifest.json` and `corpus/`):
 ```bash
 # Download + extract the corpus for the pinned engine version, then:
 ./mvnw -pl rift-java-conformance -am test \
-  -Drift.corpus.root=/path/to/sdk-conformance-v0.18.0
+  -Drift.corpus.root=/path/to/sdk-conformance-v0.18.1
 ```
 
 Resolution order for the corpus: `-Drift.corpus.root` → `RIFT_CORPUS_ROOT` → `target/corpus`. When
@@ -68,14 +68,14 @@ cached on first use):
 
 ```bash
 RIFT_IT=1 ./mvnw -pl rift-java-conformance -am verify \
-  -Drift.corpus.root=/path/to/sdk-conformance-v0.18.0
+  -Drift.corpus.root=/path/to/sdk-conformance-v0.18.1
 ```
 
 Over the embedded transport (JDK 21 or 22+, with a `librift_ffi` for your platform):
 
 ```bash
 RIFT_IT=1 CONFORMANCE_TRANSPORT=EMBEDDED ./mvnw -pl rift-java-conformance -am verify \
-  -Drift.corpus.root=/path/to/sdk-conformance-v0.18.0 \
+  -Drift.corpus.root=/path/to/sdk-conformance-v0.18.1 \
   -Drift.ffi.lib=/path/to/librift_ffi-<platform>.<ext>
 ```
 
diff --git a/rift-java-testcontainers/src/test/java/io/github/achirdlabs/rift/testcontainers/RiftContainerTest.java b/rift-java-testcontainers/src/test/java/io/github/achirdlabs/rift/testcontainers/RiftContainerTest.java
index 831211b..6cc02f8 100644
--- a/rift-java-testcontainers/src/test/java/io/github/achirdlabs/rift/testcontainers/RiftContainerTest.java
+++ b/rift-java-testcontainers/src/test/java/io/github/achirdlabs/rift/testcontainers/RiftContainerTest.java
@@ -26,9 +26,9 @@ class RiftContainerTest {
     @Test
     void defaultImageUsesPinnedEngineVersion() {
         // AC4: single-sourced from the <rift.engine.version> property via resource filtering.
-        assertEquals("0.18.0", RiftContainer.ENGINE_VERSION, "engine version resolved from filtered resource");
+        assertEquals("0.18.1", RiftContainer.ENGINE_VERSION, "engine version resolved from filtered resource");
         try (RiftContainer container = new RiftContainer()) {
-            assertEquals("zainalpour/rift-proxy:v0.18.0", container.configuredImageName());
+            assertEquals("zainalpour/rift-proxy:v0.18.1", container.configuredImageName());
         }
     }
 
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ void rejectsUpstreamTrustOnAnImageOlderThan018() {
     @Test
     void acceptsUpstreamTrustOnA018ImageOrAnUnversionedTag() {
         // A tag that is not a version (latest, a digest, a custom build) cannot be checked, so it is let through.
-        for (String image : new String[] {"zainalpour/rift-proxy:v0.18.0", "zainalpour/rift-proxy:0.19.1",
+        for (String image : new String[] {"zainalpour/rift-proxy:v0.18.1", "zainalpour/rift-proxy:0.19.1",
                 "zainalpour/rift-proxy:latest", "acme/rift:nightly"}) {
             try (RiftContainer container = new RiftContainer(DockerImageName.parse(image))) {
                 container.withUpstreamTrust(new UpstreamTrust.SkipVerify());