diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 511bebf..1e56634 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ Releases are automated. To ship a release:
 
 For emergency manual releases (bypassing the PR flow), trigger the `Release on merge` workflow manually via `workflow_dispatch`, providing the version input.
 
+## 0.8.1 (2026-06-23)
+
+Corrects the `source_files` field description in `schema/ulc.schema.json`, which contradicted the rest of the schema. The `source_files` key is a required member of the record envelope (present on every record), while its array may be empty (`minItems` 0) and its entries are neither required nor graded. The description previously said the array was "neither schema-required," disagreeing with the root `required` array and the record-envelope descriptions in the root schema and the `ConformanceLevel` definition. This is a description-only correction: no structural change, no enum or behavior change, and no re-grade. Records continue to declare `ulc_version` `0.8.0`; a 0.8.0 record is unchanged and valid under 0.8.1.
+
 ## 0.8.0 (2026-06-23)
 
 `incomplete` becomes the true floor of the conformance model. The tooling never fails a record on data completeness: a record with identity but zero source documents is valid, grades `incomplete`, and carries a roadmap to core. The roadmap now decomposes per grade all the way to full, showing the grades a record already satisfies and, for each grade it has not yet reached, only that grade's own remaining fields. The model is now framed as three grades (`core`, `standard`, `full`) above an `incomplete` floor.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 60dbc98..c68a745 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ To check the current state of manufacturer adoption (which manufacturers have pu
 
 ## Project status
 
-The current release is `0.8.0`. Conformance is computed rather than declared: the reference builder grades each record against three grades (`core`, `standard`, `full`) above an `incomplete` floor and stamps the result into the generated index. The toolchain ships the split schema and taxonomy, the drift-guard tooling, the reference command-line validator and compiler (`ulc`) with schema validation, builder parity, and source-file hash verification, the deterministic `from-sheet` workbook-to-record converter, the fill-in workbook template under `templates/workbook/`, and the PIM platform mapping guides under `mappings/pim/`. See `CHANGELOG.md` for the full release history.
+The current release is `0.8.1`. Conformance is computed rather than declared: the reference builder grades each record against three grades (`core`, `standard`, `full`) above an `incomplete` floor and stamps the result into the generated index. The toolchain ships the split schema and taxonomy, the drift-guard tooling, the reference command-line validator and compiler (`ulc`) with schema validation, builder parity, and source-file hash verification, the deterministic `from-sheet` workbook-to-record converter, the fill-in workbook template under `templates/workbook/`, and the PIM platform mapping guides under `mappings/pim/`. See `CHANGELOG.md` for the full release history.
 
 The specification will continue to evolve based on real-world use, industry feedback, and alignment with adjacent standards. See `CHANGELOG.md` for release notes.
 
diff --git a/schema/ulc.schema.json b/schema/ulc.schema.json
index 86d9edf..fc13118 100644
--- a/schema/ulc.schema.json
+++ b/schema/ulc.schema.json
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@
     },
 
     "source_files": {
-      "description": "Source files from which this record derives its data. Each file is referenced by filename, optional URL, and SHA-256 content hash. Files are not embedded. The array may be empty for an incomplete record that is still being authored; the array is neither schema-required nor graded. The graded core cutsheet item is the family-level pointer `product_family.cutsheet`; `source_files[]` is the integrity-tracked provenance manifest for whatever documents a record cites.",
+      "description": "Source files from which this record derives its data. Each file is referenced by filename, optional URL, and SHA-256 content hash. Files are not embedded. The `source_files` key is part of the record envelope, so it is present on every record, but the array may be empty (`minItems` 0) for an incomplete record still being authored, and its entries are neither required nor graded. The graded core cutsheet item is the family-level pointer `product_family.cutsheet`; `source_files[]` is the integrity-tracked provenance manifest for whatever documents a record cites.",
       "type": "array",
       "items": { "$ref": "#/$defs/SourceFile" },
       "minItems": 0