diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index 2b2b4fa9..fed4b17f 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  ".": "0.51.0"
+  ".": "0.52.0"
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a0401d93..4c4dbb17 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,22 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [0.52.0](https://github.com/ConfigButler/gitops-reverser/compare/v0.51.0...v0.52.0) (2026-10-06)
+
+
+### ⚠ BREAKING CHANGES
+
+* **git:** gitopsreverser_git_queue_drops_total is no longer emitted; dashboards and alerts must use gitopsreverser_git_queue_refusals_total.
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* **git:** keep the branch worker's decided writes pending, with one materializer ([#413](https://github.com/ConfigButler/gitops-reverser/issues/413)) ([b6492d8](https://github.com/ConfigButler/gitops-reverser/commit/b6492d865187a97fc5680080618c1341027cc88b))
+
+
+### Documentation
+
+* **upgrading:** say which kustomize panics on an invalid images: name ([#416](https://github.com/ConfigButler/gitops-reverser/issues/416)) ([2e656de](https://github.com/ConfigButler/gitops-reverser/commit/2e656de24abc9ba1e64886c03919da4f0a707c12))
+
 ## [0.51.0](https://github.com/ConfigButler/gitops-reverser/compare/v0.50.0...v0.51.0) (2026-10-02)
 
 
diff --git a/charts/gitops-reverser/Chart.yaml b/charts/gitops-reverser/Chart.yaml
index 4e55395e..362b863a 100644
--- a/charts/gitops-reverser/Chart.yaml
+++ b/charts/gitops-reverser/Chart.yaml
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ description: >-
   A Kubernetes controller for two-way GitOps synchronization - reverse sync from
   Kubernetes to Git
 type: application
-version: 0.51.0
-appVersion: 0.51.0
+version: 0.52.0
+appVersion: 0.52.0
 keywords:
   - gitops
   - kubernetes
diff --git a/charts/gitops-reverser/values.yaml b/charts/gitops-reverser/values.yaml
index 35f1d729..78526129 100644
--- a/charts/gitops-reverser/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/gitops-reverser/values.yaml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ deploymentStrategy:
 image:
   repository: ghcr.io/configbutler/gitops-reverser
   pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
-  tag: 0.51.0 # x-release-please-version
+  tag: 0.52.0 # x-release-please-version
 
 imagePullSecrets: []
 nameOverride: ""