diff --git a/board/visionfive2/genimage.cfg b/board/visionfive2/genimage.cfg
index 8133e740c0..af7bc70d1a 100644
--- a/board/visionfive2/genimage.cfg
+++ b/board/visionfive2/genimage.cfg
@@ -5,16 +5,6 @@ image sdcard.img {
 		partition-table-type = "gpt"
 	}
 
-	partition spl {
-		partition-type-uuid = 2E54B353-1271-4842-806F-E436D6AF6985
-		image = "u-boot-spl.bin.normal.out"
-	}
-
-	partition uboot {
-		partition-type-uuid = BC13C2FF-59E6-4262-A352-B275FD6F7172
-		image = "u-boot.itb"
-	}
-
 	partition rootfs {
 		partition-type-uuid = 0FC63DAF-8483-4772-8E79-3D69D8477DE4
 		bootable = true
diff --git a/board/visionfive2/linux_defconfig b/board/visionfive2/linux_defconfig
index 509cd0f475..1ca11f4097 100644
--- a/board/visionfive2/linux_defconfig
+++ b/board/visionfive2/linux_defconfig
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ CONFIG_COMPILE_TEST=y
 CONFIG_DEFAULT_HOSTNAME="StarFive"
 CONFIG_SYSVIPC=y
 CONFIG_POSIX_MQUEUE=y
-CONFIG_USELIB=y
 CONFIG_NO_HZ_IDLE=y
 CONFIG_HIGH_RES_TIMERS=y
 CONFIG_BPF_SYSCALL=y
@@ -59,6 +58,7 @@ CONFIG_NF_CONNTRACK=y
 CONFIG_NF_TABLES=y
 CONFIG_NFT_CT=y
 CONFIG_NFT_COMPAT=y
+CONFIG_NETFILTER_XTABLES_LEGACY=y
 CONFIG_NETFILTER_XT_MATCH_CONNTRACK=y
 CONFIG_NETFILTER_XT_MATCH_IPCOMP=y
 CONFIG_NETFILTER_XT_MATCH_IPRANGE=y
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ CONFIG_NETFILTER_XT_MATCH_SOCKET=y
 CONFIG_NETFILTER_XT_MATCH_STATE=y
 CONFIG_NETFILTER_XT_MATCH_STRING=y
 CONFIG_NETFILTER_XT_MATCH_U32=y
+CONFIG_IP_NF_IPTABLES_LEGACY=y
 CONFIG_NF_TABLES_IPV4=y
 CONFIG_NFT_DUP_IPV4=y
 CONFIG_NFT_FIB_IPV4=y
@@ -197,7 +198,6 @@ CONFIG_THERMAL=y
 CONFIG_CPU_THERMAL=y
 CONFIG_DEVFREQ_THERMAL=y
 CONFIG_THERMAL_EMULATION=y
-# CONFIG_HISI_THERMAL is not set
 CONFIG_WATCHDOG=y
 CONFIG_WATCHDOG_SYSFS=y
 CONFIG_MFD_AXP20X_I2C=y
@@ -370,7 +370,6 @@ CONFIG_SND_USB_AUDIO=y
 CONFIG_SND_SOC=y
 CONFIG_SND_DESIGNWARE_I2S=y
 CONFIG_SND_SOC_RZ=m
-CONFIG_SND_SOC_STARFIVE=y
 CONFIG_SND_SOC_JH7110_PWMDAC=y
 CONFIG_SND_SOC_JH7110_TDM=y
 CONFIG_SND_SOC_WM8960=y
@@ -522,7 +521,7 @@ CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_437=y
 CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_1=y
 CONFIG_INIT_STACK_NONE=y
 CONFIG_CRYPTO_USER=y
-CONFIG_CRYPTO_TEST=m
+CONFIG_CRYPTO_BENCHMARK=m
 CONFIG_CRYPTO_USER_API_HASH=y
 CONFIG_CRYPTO_USER_API_SKCIPHER=y
 CONFIG_CRYPTO_USER_API_RNG=y
diff --git a/board/visionfive2/overlay/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf b/board/visionfive2/overlay/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf
index 48d267f725..7934d70e15 100644
--- a/board/visionfive2/overlay/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf
+++ b/board/visionfive2/overlay/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 label linux
   kernel /boot/Image
   devicetree /boot/jh7110-starfive-visionfive-2-v1.3b.dtb
-  append console=ttyS0,115200 root=/dev/mmcblk1p3 rootwait
+  append console=ttyS0,115200 root=/dev/mmcblk1p1 rootwait
diff --git a/board/visionfive2/patches/linux/linux.hash b/board/visionfive2/patches/linux/linux.hash
index 1213da86b1..b2cfc9b7e7 100644
--- a/board/visionfive2/patches/linux/linux.hash
+++ b/board/visionfive2/patches/linux/linux.hash
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 # Locally calculated
-sha256  643142c1b5991560dd12f950825cc19e4497b95b82641918ecff1177f4130c1d  linux-6.12.24.tar.xz
+sha256  ba2f60f858bf4d1f929101faa356c93dc8b925b17aaa9f95eabd4627758df613  linux-6.18.51.tar.xz
diff --git a/board/visionfive2/patches/opensbi/opensbi.hash b/board/visionfive2/patches/opensbi/opensbi.hash
index d7893a1dee..5e2e695bc1 100644
--- a/board/visionfive2/patches/opensbi/opensbi.hash
+++ b/board/visionfive2/patches/opensbi/opensbi.hash
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 # Locally calculated
-sha256  d11702103f177a2914e94eec57ce5ed820296d874f6b6525c4482e55d71a3667  opensbi-1.6.tar.gz
+sha256  fb1ae61a85e966322101acb1c982f84d9eaafc4de7dd474a7d7546d9bb321c6f  opensbi-1.8.1.tar.gz
diff --git a/board/visionfive2/patches/uboot/uboot.hash b/board/visionfive2/patches/uboot/uboot.hash
index 80ea21b7cb..ff6e4ed2e2 100644
--- a/board/visionfive2/patches/uboot/uboot.hash
+++ b/board/visionfive2/patches/uboot/uboot.hash
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 # Locally calculated
-sha256  439d3bef296effd54130be6a731c5b118be7fddd7fcc663ccbc5fb18294d8718  u-boot-2025.04.tar.bz2
+sha256  78e8bfc382fe388f9b55aa1daf8c563522a037779b5d4c349d1415e381f1243e  u-boot-2026.07.tar.bz2
diff --git a/board/visionfive2/readme.txt b/board/visionfive2/readme.txt
index cc4fece6e9..718494e33e 100644
--- a/board/visionfive2/readme.txt
+++ b/board/visionfive2/readme.txt
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-Starfive VisionFive2
+StarFive VisionFive2
 ====================
 
 The VisionFive2 is a low-cost RISC-V 64-bit based platform, powered by a
-Starfive JH7110 processor.
+StarFive JH7110 processor.
 
 https://doc-en.rvspace.org/Doc_Center/visionfive_2.html
 
@@ -24,33 +24,36 @@ If you have a booting device use u-boot and tftp:
 
   # tftpboot 0x82000000 spi-nor.img
   # sf probe
-  # sf update 0x82000000 0x0 {filesize}
+  # sf update 0x82000000 0x0 ${filesize}
 
-Otherwise, follow the recovery instruction:
+Otherwise, follow the recovery instructions:
 
 https://doc-en.rvspace.org/VisionFive2/Quick_Start_Guide/VisionFive2_SDK_QSG/recovering_bootloader%20-%20vf2.html
 
 How to write the SD card
 ========================
 
-Copy the bootable "sdcard.img" onto an SD card with "dd":
+Write "sdcard.img" onto an SD card with "dd":
 
-  $ sudo dd if=output/images/sdcard.img of=/dev/sdX
+  $ sudo dd if=output/images/sdcard.img of=/dev/sdX bs=1M conv=fsync
 
 Preparing the board
 ===================
 
 Connect a TTL UART cable to pin 6 (GND), 8 (TX) and 10 (RX).
 
-Use the correct mode for booting:
-- SD card RGPIO_0=1, GRPIO_1=0
-- SPI NOR flash RGPIO_0=1, GRPIO_1=1
-
-Note that Buildroot puts the bootloader both in SPI NOR and on the SD card,
-so after flashing as instructed above, either boot mode should work.
+Select SPI NOR flash boot mode:
+- RGPIO_0=0, RGPIO_1=0
 
 https://doc-en.rvspace.org/VisionFive2/Quick_Start_Guide/VisionFive2_SDK_QSG/boot_mode_settings.html
 
 Insert your SD card.
 
 Power-up the board using an USB-C cable.
+
+Note that starting with U-Boot v2025.10, booting U-Boot directly from an
+SD card is no longer supported on this board. In this configuration, the
+bootloader is loaded from SPI NOR flash, while the SD card contains the
+Linux kernel, device trees and root filesystem.
+
+https://docs.u-boot.org/en/v2026.07/board/starfive/visionfive2.html#zero-stage-program-loader
diff --git a/configs/visionfive2_defconfig b/configs/visionfive2_defconfig
index 8223e6faa1..3e30c0649c 100644
--- a/configs/visionfive2_defconfig
+++ b/configs/visionfive2_defconfig
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 BR2_riscv=y
-BR2_PACKAGE_HOST_LINUX_HEADERS_CUSTOM_6_12=y
+BR2_PACKAGE_HOST_LINUX_HEADERS_CUSTOM_6_18=y
 BR2_GLOBAL_PATCH_DIR="board/visionfive2/patches"
 BR2_DOWNLOAD_FORCE_CHECK_HASHES=y
 BR2_SYSTEM_DHCP="eth0"
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ BR2_ROOTFS_OVERLAY="board/visionfive2/overlay"
 BR2_ROOTFS_POST_IMAGE_SCRIPT="board/visionfive2/post-image.sh"
 BR2_LINUX_KERNEL=y
 BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_VERSION=y
-BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_VERSION_VALUE="6.12.24"
+BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_VERSION_VALUE="6.18.51"
 BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_USE_CUSTOM_CONFIG=y
 BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_CUSTOM_CONFIG_FILE="board/visionfive2/linux_defconfig"
 BR2_LINUX_KERNEL_DTS_SUPPORT=y
@@ -19,14 +19,14 @@ BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2_4=y
 # BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_TAR is not set
 BR2_TARGET_OPENSBI=y
 BR2_TARGET_OPENSBI_CUSTOM_VERSION=y
-BR2_TARGET_OPENSBI_CUSTOM_VERSION_VALUE="1.6"
+BR2_TARGET_OPENSBI_CUSTOM_VERSION_VALUE="1.8.1"
 BR2_TARGET_OPENSBI_PLAT="generic"
 # BR2_TARGET_OPENSBI_INSTALL_JUMP_IMG is not set
 BR2_TARGET_OPENSBI_ADDITIONAL_VARIABLES="FW_TEXT_START=0x40000000 FW_OPTIONS=0"
 BR2_TARGET_UBOOT=y
 BR2_TARGET_UBOOT_BUILD_SYSTEM_KCONFIG=y
 BR2_TARGET_UBOOT_CUSTOM_VERSION=y
-BR2_TARGET_UBOOT_CUSTOM_VERSION_VALUE="2025.04"
+BR2_TARGET_UBOOT_CUSTOM_VERSION_VALUE="2026.07"
 BR2_TARGET_UBOOT_BOARD_DEFCONFIG="starfive_visionfive2"
 BR2_TARGET_UBOOT_NEEDS_DTC=y
 BR2_TARGET_UBOOT_NEEDS_PYLIBFDT=y