diff --git a/python/extractor/semmle/util.py b/python/extractor/semmle/util.py
index 202c2a941c2..00651ace831 100644
--- a/python/extractor/semmle/util.py
+++ b/python/extractor/semmle/util.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from io import BytesIO
 
 #Semantic version of extractor.
 #Update this if any changes are made
-VERSION = "7.1.7"
+VERSION = "7.1.8"
 
 PY_EXTENSIONS = ".py", ".pyw"
 
diff --git a/python/ql/lib/change-notes/2026-02-05-fix-format-fill-character-misparse.md b/python/ql/lib/change-notes/2026-02-05-fix-format-fill-character-misparse.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8c0bd18c4dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/ql/lib/change-notes/2026-02-05-fix-format-fill-character-misparse.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+category: fix
+---
+
+- Using `=` as a fill character in a format specifier (e.g `f"{x:=^20}"`) now no longer results in a syntax error during parsing.