diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index f20cafb0..f3cd3783 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+zoitechat (2.17.0-1) unstable; urgency=medium
+
+  * Switch Debian build to GTK 3 packaging:
+    - replace libgtk2.0-dev with libgtk-3-dev in Build-Depends.
+    - pass -Dgtk3=true to Meson during package builds.
+    - update package description to explicitly reference GTK 3.
+
+ -- ZoiteChat Maintainers <zoitechat@users.noreply.github.com>  Sun, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000
+
 zoitechat (2.17.0-0) stable; urgency=medium
 
   * Initial ZoiteChat packaging (forked from HexChat's Debian packaging).
diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
index 9ebf28fc..408abf97 100644
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Build-Depends:
  libcanberra-dev,
  libdbus-glib-1-dev,
  libglib2.0-dev,
- libgtk2.0-dev,
+ libgtk-3-dev,
  liblua5.3-dev,
  libpci-dev,
  libperl-dev,
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ Suggests:
  zoitechat-otr,
  unifont
 Description: IRC client for GNOME (fork of HexChat 2.17.0 base)
- ZoiteChat is a graphical IRC client with a GTK+ GUI. Features include Python,
+ ZoiteChat is a graphical IRC client with a GTK 3 GUI. Features include Python,
  Perl and Lua scripting support, a plugin API, multiple server/channel
  windows, spell checking, multiple authentication methods including SASL, and
  customizable notifications. For more information on IRC, see
diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index 51fce4d1..a764b78b 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ export DH_VERBOSE=1
 
 override_dh_auto_configure:
 	dh_auto_configure -- \
+		-Dgtk3=true \
 		-Dinstall-plugin-metainfo=false \
 		-Dwith-lua=lua53