diff --git a/app/build.gradle b/app/build.gradle
index 993363e32..9d64e59d4 100644
--- a/app/build.gradle
+++ b/app/build.gradle
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ android {
         resValue "string", "app_name", "NewPipe"
         minSdk 21
         targetSdk 33
-        versionCode 995
-        versionName "0.26.0"
+        versionCode 996
+        versionName "0.26.1"
 
         testInstrumentationRunner "androidx.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner"
 
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/fragments/list/channel/ChannelTabFragment.java b/app/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/fragments/list/channel/ChannelTabFragment.java
index 76849d94d..95ac42eed 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/fragments/list/channel/ChannelTabFragment.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/schabi/newpipe/fragments/list/channel/ChannelTabFragment.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.ListExtractor;
 import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.channel.tabs.ChannelTabInfo;
 import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.exceptions.ParsingException;
 import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.linkhandler.ListLinkHandler;
+import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.linkhandler.ListLinkHandlerFactory;
 import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.linkhandler.ReadyChannelTabListLinkHandler;
 import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.StreamInfoItem;
 import org.schabi.newpipe.fragments.list.BaseListInfoFragment;
@@ -128,10 +129,13 @@ public class ChannelTabFragment extends BaseListInfoFragment<InfoItem, ChannelTa
                 // once `handleResult` is called, the parsed data was already saved to cache, so
                 // we can discard any raw data in ReadyChannelTabListLinkHandler and create a
                 // link handler with identical properties, but without any raw data
-                tabHandler = result.getService()
-                        .getChannelTabLHFactory()
-                        .fromQuery(tabHandler.getId(), tabHandler.getContentFilters(),
-                                tabHandler.getSortFilter());
+                final ListLinkHandlerFactory channelTabLHFactory = result.getService()
+                        .getChannelTabLHFactory();
+                if (channelTabLHFactory != null) {
+                    // some services do not not have a ChannelTabLHFactory
+                    tabHandler = channelTabLHFactory.fromQuery(tabHandler.getId(),
+                            tabHandler.getContentFilters(), tabHandler.getSortFilter());
+                }
             } catch (final ParsingException e) {
                 // silently ignore the error, as the app can continue to function normally
                 Log.w(TAG, "Could not recreate channel tab handler", e);
diff --git a/fastlane/metadata/android/en-US/changelogs/996.txt b/fastlane/metadata/android/en-US/changelogs/996.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8e5af53a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fastlane/metadata/android/en-US/changelogs/996.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fixed a NullPointerException when opening a channel / conference in media.ccc.de.
+The Grinch tried to break our Christmas gift to you, but we fixed it.