diff --git a/docs/changelog/3138.bugfix.rst b/docs/changelog/3138.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ad3f36702
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/3138.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Upgrade embedded wheels:
+
+- pip to ``26.1.1`` from ``26.1``
diff --git a/src/virtualenv/seed/wheels/embed/__init__.py b/src/virtualenv/seed/wheels/embed/__init__.py
index dbeb288eb..aaaa3c737 100644
--- a/src/virtualenv/seed/wheels/embed/__init__.py
+++ b/src/virtualenv/seed/wheels/embed/__init__.py
@@ -19,27 +19,27 @@
         "setuptools": "setuptools-82.0.1-py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.10": {
-        "pip": "pip-26.1-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "pip": "pip-26.1.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "setuptools": "setuptools-82.0.1-py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.11": {
-        "pip": "pip-26.1-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "pip": "pip-26.1.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "setuptools": "setuptools-82.0.1-py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.12": {
-        "pip": "pip-26.1-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "pip": "pip-26.1.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "setuptools": "setuptools-82.0.1-py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.13": {
-        "pip": "pip-26.1-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "pip": "pip-26.1.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "setuptools": "setuptools-82.0.1-py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.14": {
-        "pip": "pip-26.1-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "pip": "pip-26.1.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "setuptools": "setuptools-82.0.1-py3-none-any.whl",
     },
     "3.15": {
-        "pip": "pip-26.1-py3-none-any.whl",
+        "pip": "pip-26.1.1-py3-none-any.whl",
         "setuptools": "setuptools-82.0.1-py3-none-any.whl",
     },
 }
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
 BUNDLE_SHA256 = {
     "pip-25.0.1-py3-none-any.whl": "c46efd13b6aa8279f33f2864459c8ce587ea6a1a59ee20de055868d8f7688f7f",
     "pip-26.0.1-py3-none-any.whl": "bdb1b08f4274833d62c1aa29e20907365a2ceb950410df15fc9521bad440122b",
-    "pip-26.1-py3-none-any.whl": "4e8486d821d814b77319acb7b9e8bf5a4ee7590a643e7cb21029f209be8573c1",
+    "pip-26.1.1-py3-none-any.whl": "99cb1c2899893b075ff56e4ed0af55669a955b49ad7fb8d8603ecdaf4ed653fb",
     "setuptools-75.3.4-py3-none-any.whl": "2dd50a7f42dddfa1d02a36f275dbe716f38ed250224f609d35fb60a09593d93e",
     "setuptools-82.0.1-py3-none-any.whl": "a59e362652f08dcd477c78bb6e7bd9d80a7995bc73ce773050228a348ce2e5bb",
     "wheel-0.45.1-py3-none-any.whl": "708e7481cc80179af0e556bbf0cc00b8444c7321e2700b8d8580231d13017248",
diff --git a/src/virtualenv/seed/wheels/embed/pip-26.1-py3-none-any.whl b/src/virtualenv/seed/wheels/embed/pip-26.1.1-py3-none-any.whl
similarity index 94%
rename from src/virtualenv/seed/wheels/embed/pip-26.1-py3-none-any.whl
rename to src/virtualenv/seed/wheels/embed/pip-26.1.1-py3-none-any.whl
index b51afa14f..ab0307c77 100644
Binary files a/src/virtualenv/seed/wheels/embed/pip-26.1-py3-none-any.whl and b/src/virtualenv/seed/wheels/embed/pip-26.1.1-py3-none-any.whl differ
diff --git a/tests/unit/seed/embed/test_bootstrap_link_via_app_data.py b/tests/unit/seed/embed/test_bootstrap_link_via_app_data.py
index 8b29c6001..99b6cef36 100644
--- a/tests/unit/seed/embed/test_bootstrap_link_via_app_data.py
+++ b/tests/unit/seed/embed/test_bootstrap_link_via_app_data.py
@@ -122,12 +122,7 @@ def test_seed_link_via_app_data(tmp_path, coverage_env, current_fastest, copies,
         purelib = result.creator.purelib
         patch_files = {purelib / f"{'_virtualenv'}.{i}" for i in ("py", "pyc", "pth")}
         patch_files.add(purelib / "__pycache__")
-
-        # pip 26.1+ leaves empty parent directories on uninstall (pypa/pip#13725)
-        def _has_files(path: Path) -> bool:
-            return path.is_file() or (path.is_dir() and any(_has_files(child) for child in path.iterdir()))
-
-        post_run = {p for p in set(site_package.iterdir()) - patch_files if _has_files(p)}
+        post_run = set(site_package.iterdir()) - patch_files
         assert not post_run, "\n".join(str(i) for i in post_run)