diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index bcc8d15..574a428 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,25 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [2.6.1] - 2026-09-14
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **`AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'label'` on Custom Object
+  Journal / Changelog / Contacts / Config Context pages** (#19). Regression
+  from 2.6.0: the `(label, weight)` active-tab fallback in `plugin_extra_tabs`
+  assumed `context["tab"]` is always a `ViewTab`, but `netbox-custom-objects`'
+  journal/changelog/contacts/configcontext views set it to a plain string.
+  The tag now reads `label`/`weight` with `getattr`, so a string marker simply
+  yields "not active". Triggered on any CO detail page that has at least one
+  combined/typed tab registered (`netbox_custom_objects.*` in
+  `combined_models`/`typed_models`).
+- **Duplicate, never-active "Contacts" tab on Custom Object detail pages.**
+  NetBox (≥ 4.3) auto-registers an `ObjectContactsView` tab for every
+  `ContactsMixin` model, including Custom Object models; `plugin_extra_tabs`
+  rendered it next to the hardcoded Contacts tab. It is now excluded like
+  Journal/Changelog.
+
 ## [2.6.0] - 2026-09-04
 
 ### Changed
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 16ab8c3..3d4874c 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -217,6 +217,11 @@ permissions internally via `get_permission_for_model()`.
 - `netbox_custom_objects` uses a single generic URL view (`CustomObjectView`) for all CO detail pages — it never calls `get_model_urls()` for dynamic models. `_inject_co_urls()` appends our tab URL patterns to `netbox_custom_objects.urls.urlpatterns` at `ready()` time (safe: Django loads URL conf lazily on first request)
 - `SavedFiltersMixin` lives at `netbox.forms.mixins`, not `extras.forms.mixins`
 - **Journal/Changelog tabs on CO pages must be hardcoded `<li>` blocks, not rendered via `{% model_view_tabs %}`.** Upstream's `CustomObjectJournalView`/`CustomObjectChangeLogView` (`views.py:1321, 1393`) set `tab="journal"`/`"changelog"` as a **string** in the template context, while `model_view_tabs` (`utilities/templatetags/tabs.py:53`) computes `is_active = active_tab == tab` where `tab` is a `ViewTab` object — comparison always False → no `active` class. NetBox auto-registers Journal/Changelog views for ChangeLoggedModel subclasses in `netbox/models/features.py:737-742`, so `model_view_tabs` *will* render them, just never as active. Workaround: hardcode `<li>` for Journal/Changelog (string comparison works), and use our `{% plugin_extra_tabs %}` tag (`templatetags/custom_object_tab_tags.py`) instead of `model_view_tabs` to render combined/typed tabs while filtering out journal/changelog (otherwise duplicate inert tabs appear). Fix landed for issue #15.
+- **`context["tab"]` on CO detail pages may be a plain `str`** (`"journal"`, `"changelog"`,
+  `"contacts"`, `"configcontext"` — set by upstream's hand-rolled views). `plugin_extra_tabs` must
+  read `label`/`weight` off it with `getattr`, never attribute access (issue #19, regression in 2.6.0).
+  NetBox (≥ 4.3) also auto-registers a `contacts` ViewTab (`netbox/models/features.py`, next to
+  journal/changelog), so `contacts` is in `_HARDCODED_TAB_NAMES` too — otherwise a duplicate tab renders.
 
 ## Critical Reference Files
 
diff --git a/netbox_custom_objects_tab/templatetags/custom_object_tab_tags.py b/netbox_custom_objects_tab/templatetags/custom_object_tab_tags.py
index 0c38ff0..4707c3f 100644
--- a/netbox_custom_objects_tab/templatetags/custom_object_tab_tags.py
+++ b/netbox_custom_objects_tab/templatetags/custom_object_tab_tags.py
@@ -8,14 +8,14 @@
 
 register = template.Library()
 
-# NetBox's `extras` framework auto-registers ObjectJournalView/ObjectChangeLogView
+# NetBox auto-registers ObjectContactsView/ObjectJournalView/ObjectChangeLogView
 # for every model that supports them (see netbox/models/features.py). On Custom
-# Object detail pages we render those two tabs as hardcoded <li> blocks instead,
-# because upstream's CustomObjectJournalView/CustomObjectChangeLogView put the
-# string "journal"/"changelog" in the template context as the active-tab marker,
-# which `model_view_tabs` cannot match against its ViewTab object. Filtering them
-# out here prevents duplicate, never-active tabs from being rendered.
-_HARDCODED_TAB_NAMES = frozenset({"journal", "changelog"})
+# Object detail pages we render those tabs as hardcoded <li> blocks instead,
+# because upstream's CustomObjectContactsView/JournalView/ChangeLogView put the
+# string "contacts"/"journal"/"changelog" in the template context as the
+# active-tab marker, which `model_view_tabs` cannot match against its ViewTab
+# object. Filtering them out here prevents duplicate, never-active tabs.
+_HARDCODED_TAB_NAMES = frozenset({"contacts", "journal", "changelog"})
 
 
 @register.inclusion_tag("tabs/model_view_tabs.html", takes_context=True)
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ def plugin_extra_tabs(context, instance):
     except KeyError:
         views = []
 
+    active_tab = context.get("tab")
+    # Upstream's CO journal/changelog/contacts/configcontext views put a plain str in
+    # context["tab"]; only a ViewTab has label/weight (issue #19).
+    active_key = (getattr(active_tab, "label", None), getattr(active_tab, "weight", None))
+
     for config in views:
         if config["name"] in _HARDCODED_TAB_NAMES:
             continue
@@ -42,7 +47,6 @@ def plugin_extra_tabs(context, instance):
             if tab.permission and not user.has_perm(tab.permission):
                 continue
             if attrs := tab.render(instance):
-                active_tab = context.get("tab")
                 try:
                     url = get_action_url(instance, action=config["name"], kwargs={"pk": instance.pk})
                 except NoReverseMatch:
@@ -58,8 +62,7 @@ def plugin_extra_tabs(context, instance):
                         # generic CO-page URL (see views._inject_co_urls) is bound to the
                         # first model's view class, whose ViewTab instance differs from the
                         # registry entry for the page's actual model.
-                        "is_active": bool(active_tab)
-                        and (active_tab == tab or (active_tab.label, active_tab.weight) == (tab.label, tab.weight)),
+                        "is_active": active_tab == tab or active_key == (tab.label, tab.weight),
                     }
                 )
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 16412d8..e0123fe 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "netbox-custom-objects-tab"
-version = "2.6.0"
+version = "2.6.1"
 description = "NetBox plugin that adds a Custom Objects tab to object detail pages"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.12"
diff --git a/tests/test_templatetags.py b/tests/test_templatetags.py
index a0997c1..621e345 100644
--- a/tests/test_templatetags.py
+++ b/tests/test_templatetags.py
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 from types import SimpleNamespace
 from unittest.mock import patch
 
+import pytest
+
 
 def _tab(label, weight):
     return SimpleNamespace(
@@ -12,14 +14,14 @@ def _tab(label, weight):
     )
 
 
-def _render(active_tab, registered_tab):
+def _render(active_tab, registered_tab, name="custom_objects"):
     from netbox_custom_objects_tab.templatetags import custom_object_tab_tags as tags
 
     instance = SimpleNamespace(
         _meta=SimpleNamespace(app_label="netbox_custom_objects", model_name="table149model"), pk=1
     )
     view = SimpleNamespace(tab=registered_tab)
-    registry = {"views": {"netbox_custom_objects": {"table149model": [{"name": "custom_objects", "view": view}]}}}
+    registry = {"views": {"netbox_custom_objects": {"table149model": [{"name": name, "view": view}]}}}
     context = {"request": SimpleNamespace(user=SimpleNamespace(has_perm=lambda p: True)), "tab": active_tab}
     with patch.object(tags, "registry", registry), patch.object(tags, "get_action_url", return_value="/x/"):
         return tags.plugin_extra_tabs(context, instance)["tabs"]
@@ -41,3 +43,15 @@ def test_different_label_is_not_active():
 
 def test_no_active_tab_in_context():
     assert _render(None, _tab("Custom Objects", 2000))[0]["is_active"] is False
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("marker", ["journal", "changelog", "contacts", "configcontext"])
+def test_string_active_tab_marker_is_not_active(marker):
+    # Upstream CO journal/changelog/contacts/configcontext views set context["tab"] to a str (#19).
+    assert _render(marker, _tab("Custom Objects", 2000))[0]["is_active"] is False
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("name", ["contacts", "journal", "changelog"])
+def test_hardcoded_tab_names_are_skipped(name):
+    # NetBox auto-registers these; the CO template renders them by hand, so the tag must not duplicate them.
+    assert _render(None, _tab("Contacts", 5000), name=name) == []