diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1b75707..e79708d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-SOURCES/rsync-3.3.0.tar.gz
+SOURCES/rsync-3.5.0.tar.gz
 SOURCES/rsync-patches-3.3.0.tar.gz
diff --git a/.rsync.metadata b/.rsync.metadata
index 49f43f2..769ec8f 100644
--- a/.rsync.metadata
+++ b/.rsync.metadata
@@ -1,2 +1 @@
-19a6173f6242275478fc35804e87616ff82b5cff SOURCES/rsync-3.4.1.tar.gz
-614574960fafd5f3b8b59094ee7d2cf3e1eae542 SOURCES/rsync-patches-3.4.1.tar.gz
+2f338dab2f7825c391f13790f467aa2498795d3a SOURCES/rsync-3.5.0.tar.gz
diff --git a/SOURCES/rsync-3.2.2-runtests.patch b/SOURCES/rsync-3.2.2-runtests.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index a58be1f..0000000
--- a/SOURCES/rsync-3.2.2-runtests.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-diff --git a/runtests.sh b/runtests.sh
-index 0c463be..eecf530 100755
---- a/runtests.sh
-+++ b/runtests.sh
-@@ -280,6 +280,7 @@ for testscript in $suitedir/$whichtests; do
-
-     case "$testscript" in
-     *hardlinks*) TESTRUN_TIMEOUT=600 ;;
-+    *default-acls*) continue ;;
-     *) TESTRUN_TIMEOUT=300 ;;
-     esac
diff --git a/SPECS/rsync.spec b/SPECS/rsync.spec
index 9f65e88..c917613 100644
--- a/SPECS/rsync.spec
+++ b/SPECS/rsync.spec
@@ -8,12 +8,12 @@
 
 Summary: A program for synchronizing files over a network
 Name: rsync
-Version: 3.4.1
-Release: 10%{?dist}
+Version: 3.5.0
+Release: 1%{?dist}
 URL: https://rsync.samba.org/
 
 Source0: https://download.samba.org/pub/rsync/src/rsync-%{version}%{?prerelease}.tar.gz
-Source1: https://download.samba.org/pub/rsync/src/rsync-patches-%{version}%{?prerelease}.tar.gz
+## Source1: https://download.samba.org/pub/rsync/src/rsync-patches-%{version}%{?prerelease}.tar.gz
 Source2: rsyncd.socket
 Source3: rsyncd.service
 Source4: rsyncd.conf
@@ -32,6 +32,13 @@ BuildRequires: lz4-devel
 BuildRequires: openssl-devel
 BuildRequires: libzstd-devel
 BuildRequires: xxhash-devel
+# The test suite is a Python program since 3.5.0 and needs Python >= 3.7.
+# On EL8 /usr/bin/python3 is 3.6, so pull in a versioned interpreter there.
+%if 0%{?rhel} == 8
+BuildRequires: python3.11
+%else
+BuildRequires: python3
+%endif
 #Added virtual provide for zlib due to https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Bundled_Libraries?rd=Packaging:Bundled_Libraries
 Provides: bundled(zlib) = 1.2.8
 #rsync code is distributed under GPLv3+ license. There are files under popt/ directory
@@ -40,8 +47,6 @@ Provides: bundled(zlib) = 1.2.8
 #mentioned here as well.
 License: GPL-3.0-or-later
 
-Patch0: rsync-3.2.2-runtests.patch
-
 %description
 Rsync uses a reliable algorithm to bring remote and host files into
 sync very quickly. Rsync is fast because it just sends the differences
@@ -69,6 +74,12 @@ package provides the anonymous rsync service.
 %autosetup -p1
 %endif
 
+%if 0%{?rhel} == 8
+# runtests.py runs every test through sys.executable, so its shebang decides
+# the interpreter for the whole suite. On EL8 /usr/bin/python3 is 3.6.
+sed -i '1s|.*|#!%{_bindir}/python3.11|' runtests.py
+%endif
+
 %build
 %configure \
   --enable-openssl \
@@ -118,6 +129,9 @@ install -D -m644 %{SOURCE6} $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/%{_unitdir}/rsyncd@.service
 %systemd_postun_with_restart rsyncd.service
 
 %changelog
+* Wed Aug 19 2026 Eduard Abdullin <eabdullin@almalinux.org> - 3.5.0-1
+- Update to 3.5.0
+
 * Wed Jan 15 2025 Jonathan Wright <jonathan@almalinux.org> - 3.4.1-1
 - update to 3.4.1, fixes regressions from 3.4.0