From 1a0914352a565cfb011f37fa34bf0ecac798f6c7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Bianca Henderson <bianca@redhat.com>
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2026 17:04:18 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Prep `5.4.4` release (#1193)

* Fix ansible version for 5.4.3 release

* Prep release 5.4.4

(cherry picked from commit 44fbb83be4b2ea9d3ee4479f7aa131cf72b3b0e3)
---
 CHANGELOG.rst             | 13 +++++++++++++
 Makefile                  |  2 +-
 README.md                 |  4 ++--
 changelogs/changelog.yaml |  6 ++++++
 galaxy.yml                |  2 +-
 meta/runtime.yml          |  2 +-
 6 files changed, 24 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 19842b55..100f802e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,19 @@ Kubernetes Collection Release Notes
 
 .. contents:: Topics
 
+v5.4.4
+======
+
+Release Summary
+---------------
+
+This release corrects the documented and enforced minimum ``ansible-core`` version to ``>=2.16.0``.
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+- meta - Update ``requires_ansible`` in ``runtime.yml`` and README to ``>=2.16.0`` to match the actual minimum supported ``ansible-core`` version (https://github.com/ansible-collections/kubernetes.core/pull/1193).
+
 v5.4.3
 ======
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 47c42866..14933e91 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # Also needs to be updated in galaxy.yml
-VERSION = 5.4.3
+VERSION = 5.4.4
 
 TEST_ARGS ?= ""
 PYTHON_VERSION ?= `python -c 'import platform; print(".".join(platform.python_version_tuple()[0:2]))'`
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2d828ec7..96492d7b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ Name | Description
 <!--start requires_ansible-->
 ### Ansible version compatibility
 
-This collection has been tested against the following Ansible versions: **>=2.15.0**.
+This collection has been tested against the following Ansible versions: **>=2.16.0**.
 
 For collections that support Ansible 2.9, please ensure you update your `network_os` to use the
 fully qualified collection name (for example, `cisco.ios.ios`).
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ You can also include it in a `requirements.yml` file and install it via `ansible
 ---
 collections:
   - name: kubernetes.core
-    version: 5.4.3
+    version: 5.4.4
 ```
 
 ### Installing the Kubernetes Python Library
diff --git a/changelogs/changelog.yaml b/changelogs/changelog.yaml
index cde1a619..1451c499 100644
--- a/changelogs/changelog.yaml
+++ b/changelogs/changelog.yaml
@@ -1137,3 +1137,9 @@ releases:
     - 5-4-3.yml
     - fix-openshift-clients-ee-dependency.yaml
     release_date: '2026-07-08'
+  5.4.4:
+    changes:
+      bugfixes:
+      - meta - Update ``requires_ansible`` in ``runtime.yml`` and README to ``>=2.16.0`` to match the actual minimum supported ``ansible-core`` version (https://github.com/ansible-collections/kubernetes.core/pull/1193).
+      release_summary: This release corrects the documented and enforced minimum ``ansible-core`` version to ``>=2.16.0``.
+    release_date: '2026-07-09'
diff --git a/galaxy.yml b/galaxy.yml
index 7e51b91e..de5fe91e 100644
--- a/galaxy.yml
+++ b/galaxy.yml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ tags:
   - openshift
   - okd
   - cluster
-version: 5.4.3
+version: 5.4.4
 build_ignore:
   - .DS_Store
   - "*.tar.gz"
diff --git a/meta/runtime.yml b/meta/runtime.yml
index 870bcf48..65d5aa4b 100644
--- a/meta/runtime.yml
+++ b/meta/runtime.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ---
-requires_ansible: '>=2.15.0'
+requires_ansible: '>=2.16.0'
 
 action_groups:
   helm: