diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 1e1ff575fd3..7a0d300a573 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ endif()
 #   RelWithDebInfo : Release build with Debug Info
 #   MinSizeRel     : Release Min Size build
 IF(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
-  SET(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "Debug" CACHE STRING "Build Type" FORCE)
+  SET(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "Release" CACHE STRING "Build Type" FORCE)
 ENDIF(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
 # Set a value type to properly display CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE on GUI if the
 # value type is "UNINITIALIZED".
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 0ccdb5d61b0..bf0515f34d8 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+Apr 08, 2022: libarchive 3.6.1 released
+
 Feb 09, 2022: libarchive 3.6.0 released
 
 Feb 08, 2022: libarchive 3.5.3 released
diff --git a/build/ci/github_actions/ci.cmd b/build/ci/github_actions/ci.cmd
index 7adb98f913a..9dfc8b1fc12 100755
--- a/build/ci/github_actions/ci.cmd
+++ b/build/ci/github_actions/ci.cmd
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 @ECHO OFF
-SET ZLIB_VERSION=1.2.11
-SET BZIP2_VERSION=b7a672291188a6469f71dd13ad14f2f9a7344fc8
+SET ZLIB_VERSION=1.2.12
+SET BZIP2_VERSION=1ea1ac188ad4b9cb662e3f8314673c63df95a589
 SET XZ_VERSION=5.2.5
 IF NOT "%BE%"=="mingw-gcc" (
   IF NOT "%BE%"=="msvc" (
@@ -87,11 +87,11 @@ IF "%1"=="deplibs" (
     SET PATH=%MINGWPATH%
     MKDIR build_ci\cmake
     CD build_ci\cmake
-    cmake -G "MinGW Makefiles" -D ZLIB_LIBRARY="C:/Program Files (x86)/zlib/lib/libzlibstatic.a" -D ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR="C:/Program Files (x86)/zlib/include" -D BZIP2_LIBRARIES="C:/Program Files (x86)/bzip2/lib/libbz2.a" -D BZIP2_INCLUDE_DIR="C:/Program Files (x86)/bzip2/include" -D LIBLZMA_LIBRARY="C:/Program Files (x86)/xz/lib/liblzma.a" -D LIBLZMA_INCLUDE_DIR="C:/Program Files (x86)/xz/include" ..\.. || EXIT /b 1
+    cmake -G "MinGW Makefiles" -D ZLIB_LIBRARY="C:/Program Files (x86)/zlib/lib/libzlibstatic.a" -D ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR="C:/Program Files (x86)/zlib/include" -D BZIP2_LIBRARIES="C:/Program Files (x86)/bzip2/lib/libbz2_static.a" -D BZIP2_INCLUDE_DIR="C:/Program Files (x86)/bzip2/include" -D LIBLZMA_LIBRARY="C:/Program Files (x86)/xz/lib/liblzma.a" -D LIBLZMA_INCLUDE_DIR="C:/Program Files (x86)/xz/include" ..\.. || EXIT /b 1
   ) ELSE IF "%BE%"=="msvc" (
     MKDIR build_ci\cmake
     CD build_ci\cmake
-    cmake -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="Release" -D ZLIB_LIBRARY="C:/Program Files (x86)/zlib/lib/zlibstatic.lib" -D ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR="C:/Program Files (x86)/zlib/include" -D BZIP2_LIBRARIES="C:/Program Files (x86)/bzip2/lib/bz2.lib" -D BZIP2_INCLUDE_DIR="C:/Program Files (x86)/bzip2/include" -D LIBLZMA_LIBRARY="C:/Program Files (x86)/xz/lib/liblzma.lib" -D LIBLZMA_INCLUDE_DIR="C:/Program Files (x86)/xz/include" ..\.. || EXIT /b 1
+    cmake -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="Release" -D ZLIB_LIBRARY="C:/Program Files (x86)/zlib/lib/zlibstatic.lib" -D ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR="C:/Program Files (x86)/zlib/include" -D BZIP2_LIBRARIES="C:/Program Files (x86)/bzip2/lib/bz2_static.lib" -D BZIP2_INCLUDE_DIR="C:/Program Files (x86)/bzip2/include" -D LIBLZMA_LIBRARY="C:/Program Files (x86)/xz/lib/liblzma.lib" -D LIBLZMA_INCLUDE_DIR="C:/Program Files (x86)/xz/include" ..\.. || EXIT /b 1
   )
 ) ELSE IF "%1%"=="build" (
   IF "%BE%"=="mingw-gcc" (
diff --git a/build/version b/build/version
index 49c9756b959..05a4a10f861 100644
--- a/build/version
+++ b/build/version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-3006001dev
+3006001
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 2c9e1f957e1..339409a65c9 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ dnl First, define all of the version numbers up front.
 dnl In particular, this allows the version macro to be used in AC_INIT
 
 dnl These first two version numbers are updated automatically on each release.
-m4_define([LIBARCHIVE_VERSION_S],[3.6.1dev])
+m4_define([LIBARCHIVE_VERSION_S],[3.6.1])
 m4_define([LIBARCHIVE_VERSION_N],[3006001])
 
 dnl bsdtar and bsdcpio versioning tracks libarchive
diff --git a/libarchive/archive.h b/libarchive/archive.h
index 930ad576796..46041eb08e2 100644
--- a/libarchive/archive.h
+++ b/libarchive/archive.h
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ __LA_DECL int		archive_version_number(void);
 /*
  * Textual name/version of the library, useful for version displays.
  */
-#define	ARCHIVE_VERSION_ONLY_STRING "3.6.1dev"
+#define	ARCHIVE_VERSION_ONLY_STRING "3.6.1"
 #define	ARCHIVE_VERSION_STRING "libarchive " ARCHIVE_VERSION_ONLY_STRING
 __LA_DECL const char *	archive_version_string(void);
 
diff --git a/libarchive/archive_digest.c b/libarchive/archive_digest.c
index 410df01563d..a7bd5f0286a 100644
--- a/libarchive/archive_digest.c
+++ b/libarchive/archive_digest.c
@@ -243,7 +243,8 @@ __archive_md5init(archive_md5_ctx *ctx)
 {
   if ((*ctx = EVP_MD_CTX_new()) == NULL)
 	return (ARCHIVE_FAILED);
-  EVP_DigestInit(*ctx, EVP_md5());
+  if (!EVP_DigestInit(*ctx, EVP_md5()))
+	return (ARCHIVE_FAILED);
   return (ARCHIVE_OK);
 }
 
@@ -434,7 +435,8 @@ __archive_ripemd160init(archive_rmd160_ctx *ctx)
 {
   if ((*ctx = EVP_MD_CTX_new()) == NULL)
 	return (ARCHIVE_FAILED);
-  EVP_DigestInit(*ctx, EVP_ripemd160());
+  if (!EVP_DigestInit(*ctx, EVP_ripemd160()))
+	return (ARCHIVE_FAILED);
   return (ARCHIVE_OK);
 }
 
@@ -624,7 +626,8 @@ __archive_sha1init(archive_sha1_ctx *ctx)
 {
   if ((*ctx = EVP_MD_CTX_new()) == NULL)
 	return (ARCHIVE_FAILED);
-  EVP_DigestInit(*ctx, EVP_sha1());
+  if (!EVP_DigestInit(*ctx, EVP_sha1()))
+	return (ARCHIVE_FAILED);
   return (ARCHIVE_OK);
 }
 
@@ -887,7 +890,8 @@ __archive_sha256init(archive_sha256_ctx *ctx)
 {
   if ((*ctx = EVP_MD_CTX_new()) == NULL)
 	return (ARCHIVE_FAILED);
-  EVP_DigestInit(*ctx, EVP_sha256());
+  if (!EVP_DigestInit(*ctx, EVP_sha256()))
+	return (ARCHIVE_FAILED);
   return (ARCHIVE_OK);
 }
 
@@ -1122,7 +1126,8 @@ __archive_sha384init(archive_sha384_ctx *ctx)
 {
   if ((*ctx = EVP_MD_CTX_new()) == NULL)
 	return (ARCHIVE_FAILED);
-  EVP_DigestInit(*ctx, EVP_sha384());
+  if (!EVP_DigestInit(*ctx, EVP_sha384()))
+	return (ARCHIVE_FAILED);
   return (ARCHIVE_OK);
 }
 
@@ -1381,7 +1386,8 @@ __archive_sha512init(archive_sha512_ctx *ctx)
 {
   if ((*ctx = EVP_MD_CTX_new()) == NULL)
 	return (ARCHIVE_FAILED);
-  EVP_DigestInit(*ctx, EVP_sha512());
+  if (!EVP_DigestInit(*ctx, EVP_sha512()))
+	return (ARCHIVE_FAILED);
   return (ARCHIVE_OK);
 }