diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index e70b452..6a6a3d8 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2.6.0
+2.6.1
diff --git a/app/routers_v3/players.py b/app/routers_v3/players.py
index 343a4ce..5136425 100644
--- a/app/routers_v3/players.py
+++ b/app/routers_v3/players.py
@@ -117,12 +117,20 @@ async def patch_player(
 ):
     """Patch a player (partial update)."""
     # Build dict of provided fields
-    # IMPORTANT: Capture locals() BEFORE creating data dict to avoid including 'data' itself
-    locals_dict = locals()
-    data = {}
-    for key, value in locals_dict.items():
-        if key not in ('player_id', 'token', 'locals_dict') and value is not None:
-            data[key] = value
+    data = {
+        key: value
+        for key, value in {
+            'name': name, 'wara': wara, 'image': image, 'image2': image2,
+            'team_id': team_id, 'season': season,
+            'pos_1': pos_1, 'pos_2': pos_2, 'pos_3': pos_3, 'pos_4': pos_4,
+            'pos_5': pos_5, 'pos_6': pos_6, 'pos_7': pos_7, 'pos_8': pos_8,
+            'vanity_card': vanity_card, 'headshot': headshot,
+            'il_return': il_return, 'demotion_week': demotion_week,
+            'strat_code': strat_code, 'bbref_id': bbref_id,
+            'injury_rating': injury_rating, 'sbaref_id': sbaref_id,
+        }.items()
+        if value is not None
+    }
 
     return PlayerService.patch_player(player_id, data, token)
 
diff --git a/app/routers_v3/teams.py b/app/routers_v3/teams.py
index 5409362..f64d6a1 100644
--- a/app/routers_v3/teams.py
+++ b/app/routers_v3/teams.py
@@ -92,11 +92,17 @@ async def patch_team(
 ):
     """Patch a team (partial update)."""
     # Build dict of provided fields
-    data = {}
-    locals_dict = locals()
-    for key, value in locals_dict.items():
-        if key not in ('team_id', 'token') and value is not None:
-            data[key] = value
+    data = {
+        key: value
+        for key, value in {
+            'manager1_id': manager1_id, 'manager2_id': manager2_id,
+            'gmid': gmid, 'gmid2': gmid2, 'mascot': mascot,
+            'stadium': stadium, 'thumbnail': thumbnail, 'color': color,
+            'abbrev': abbrev, 'sname': sname, 'lname': lname,
+            'dice_color': dice_color, 'division_id': division_id,
+        }.items()
+        if value is not None
+    }
     
     return TeamService.update_team(team_id, data, token)