diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/av/aviator/bump-golang-x-sys.patch b/pkgs/by-name/av/aviator/bump-golang-x-sys.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index cb9b076d3eaf..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/by-name/av/aviator/bump-golang-x-sys.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
-index 9bc55db..4bddb07 100644
---- a/go.mod
-+++ b/go.mod
-@@ -19,5 +19,6 @@ require (
- 	github.com/smallfish/simpleyaml v0.0.0-20170527020626-116d8e577389 // indirect
- 	github.com/starkandwayne/goutils v0.0.0-20190115202530-896b8a6904be
- 	github.com/urfave/cli v1.19.1
-+	golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220731174439-a90be440212d // indirect
- 	gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.3.0
- )
-diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
-index 7641199..d983a95 100644
---- a/go.sum
-+++ b/go.sum
-@@ -138,6 +138,8 @@ golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20191120155948-bd437916bb0e/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7w
- golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20200116001909-b77594299b42/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
- golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20200523222454-059865788121 h1:rITEj+UZHYC927n8GT97eC3zrpzXdb/voyeOuVKS46o=
- golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20200523222454-059865788121/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
-+golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220731174439-a90be440212d h1:Sv5ogFZatcgIMMtBSTTAgMYsicp25MXBubjXNDKwm80=
-+golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220731174439-a90be440212d/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
- golang.org/x/text v0.3.0 h1:g61tztE5qeGQ89tm6NTjjM9VPIm088od1l6aSorWRWg=
- golang.org/x/text v0.3.0/go.mod h1:NqM8EUOU14njkJ3fqMW+pc6Ldnwhi/IjpwHt7yyuwOQ=
- golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20190328211700-ab21143f2384/go.mod h1:LCzVGOaR6xXOjkQ3onu1FJEFr0SW1gC7cKk1uF8kGRs=
diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/av/aviator/fix-except-type.patch b/pkgs/by-name/av/aviator/fix-except-type.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..41c2f27ca32c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/av/aviator/fix-except-type.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+--- /nix/store/vi2p09s1xk39c6r8p8r0rm0p5c7nka62-source/processor/processor_test.go	1970-01-01 08:00:01
++++ source-orig/processor/processor_test.go	2026-03-27 11:41:40
+@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@
+ 						cfg.Merge[0].With.Files = []string{"fake1", "fake2"}
+ 						cfg.ForEach.In = "integration/yamls/addons/"
+ 						cfg.ForEach.SubDirs = true
+-						cfg.ForEach.Except = "fake2"
++						cfg.ForEach.Except = []string{"fake2"}
+ 						cfg.ForEach.ForAll = "integration/yamls/"
+ 
+ 						spruceConfig = []aviator.Spruce{cfg}
+@@ -507,10 +507,10 @@
+ 						Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+ 
+ 						cc := spruceClient.MergeWithOptsCallCount()
+-						Expect(cc).To(Equal(8))
++						Expect(cc).To(Equal(9))
+ 
+ 						mergeOpts := spruceClient.MergeWithOptsArgsForCall(0)
+-						Expect(len(mergeOpts.Files)).To(Equal(4))
++						Expect(len(mergeOpts.Files)).To(Equal(5))
+ 					})
+ 				})
+ 			})
diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/av/aviator/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/av/aviator/package.nix
index a58aa17101b9..7294f8d89374 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/av/aviator/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/av/aviator/package.nix
@@ -2,31 +2,43 @@
   lib,
   buildGoModule,
   fetchFromGitHub,
+  testers,
 }:
 
 buildGoModule (finalAttrs: {
   pname = "aviator";
-  version = "1.8.1";
+  version = "1.9.0";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "herrjulz";
     repo = "aviator";
     rev = "v${finalAttrs.version}";
-    sha256 = "sha256-Oa4z8n+q7LKWMnwk+xj9UunzOa3ChaPBCTo828yYJGQ=";
+    hash = "sha256-jqAGwPqxxCkBpSMebikdUGh54hlSLeqAyf7BOBtjiNA=";
   };
 
   patches = [
-    ./bump-golang-x-sys.patch
+    # Fix test failures caused by type mismatch in ForEach.Except field
+    # The Except field was changed from string to []string
+    ./fix-except-type.patch
   ];
 
   deleteVendor = true;
-  vendorHash = "sha256-AJyxCE4DdAXRS+2sY4Zzu8NTEFKJoV1bopfOqOFKZfI=";
+  vendorHash = "sha256-rYOphvI1ZE8X5UExfgxHnWBn697SDkNnmxeY7ihIZ1s=";
+
+  ldflags = [
+    "-s"
+    "-w"
+  ];
+
+  passthru.tests.version = testers.testVersion {
+    package = finalAttrs.finalPackage;
+  };
 
   meta = {
     description = "Merge YAML/JSON files in a in a convenient fashion";
-    mainProgram = "aviator";
     homepage = "https://github.com/herrjulz/aviator";
     license = lib.licenses.mit;
     maintainers = with lib.maintainers; [ risson ];
+    mainProgram = "aviator";
   };
 })