diff --git a/devel/pybind11/Makefile b/devel/pybind11/Makefile
index d847129f4b3c..1279a35192ba 100644
--- a/devel/pybind11/Makefile
+++ b/devel/pybind11/Makefile
@@ -1,21 +1,24 @@
 PORTNAME=	pybind11
 DISTVERSIONPREFIX=	v
-DISTVERSION=	2.8.0
+DISTVERSION=	2.8.1
 CATEGORIES=	devel python
 
 MAINTAINER=	yuri@FreeBSD.org
 COMMENT=	Seamless interoperability between C++11 and Python (cmake part)
 
 LICENSE=	BSD3CLAUSE
 LICENSE_FILE=	${WRKSRC}/LICENSE
 
-USES=		cmake compiler:c++11-lang python:build
+USES=		cmake:testing compiler:c++11-lang python:build
 
 USE_GITHUB=	yes
 GH_ACCOUNT=	pybind
 
 CMAKE_OFF=	PYBIND11_TEST
 
+CMAKE_TESTING_ON=	PYBIND11_TEST # one test is known to fail: https://github.com/pybind/pybind11/issues/3537
+CMAKE_TESTING_TARGET=	pytest
+
 NO_ARCH=	yes
 
 .include <bsd.port.mk>
diff --git a/devel/pybind11/distinfo b/devel/pybind11/distinfo
index 3c20d10ed5ec..704553c79e53 100644
--- a/devel/pybind11/distinfo
+++ b/devel/pybind11/distinfo
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-TIMESTAMP = 1633839331
-SHA256 (pybind-pybind11-v2.8.0_GH0.tar.gz) = 9ca7770fc5453b10b00a4a2f99754d7a29af8952330be5f5602e7c2635fa3e79
-SIZE (pybind-pybind11-v2.8.0_GH0.tar.gz) = 688544
+TIMESTAMP = 1638896032
+SHA256 (pybind-pybind11-v2.8.1_GH0.tar.gz) = f1bcc07caa568eb312411dde5308b1e250bd0e1bc020fae855bf9f43209940cc
+SIZE (pybind-pybind11-v2.8.1_GH0.tar.gz) = 693075