diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 734957e..cbe9b2d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [v1.6.1] - 2026-08-08
+
+An efficiency-scoring correction, friendlier error messages across the
+interactive viewer, and a pass of TUI/analysis performance work that removes
+redundant per-frame computation on large images.
+
 ### Changed
 - Efficiency analysis now counts a file that is added in one layer and deleted
   in a later layer as wasted space. Deleting a file in a later layer records a
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 655e008..7613972 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ sudo rpm -i layerx_linux_arm64.rpm
 
 ### Direct download
 
-Prebuilt binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows (amd64 + arm64) on the [Releases page](https://github.com/deveshctl/layerx/releases). Replace `latest` with a specific tag (e.g. `v1.6.0`) in any URL above.
+Prebuilt binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows (amd64 + arm64) on the [Releases page](https://github.com/deveshctl/layerx/releases). Replace `latest` with a specific tag (e.g. `v1.6.1`) in any URL above.
 
 ### Container image (Docker, Podman, any OCI runtime)
 
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ Every tagged release also publishes a multi-arch image (linux/amd64 + linux/arm6
 
 ```
 ghcr.io/deveshctl/layerx:latest
-ghcr.io/deveshctl/layerx:v1.6.0     # pin a specific version
+ghcr.io/deveshctl/layerx:v1.6.1     # pin a specific version
 ```
 
 LayerX is a client to a running container engine, so the image needs the host engine's socket bind-mounted in. It cannot inspect live images without one — but archive mode (bind-mount a `docker save` / OCI tar) works without any socket at all.