diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 72d50b02..500df131 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -86,12 +86,9 @@ checksum = "d3fb67a6e08acf24fdeccbac2cb6ac4305825bd1f117462e0e6f2f193345ad56"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "ascon"
-version = "0.5.0-rc.0"
+version = "0.5.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "953707d565de11d13f8cf7d880e9a46c9c403693cb7d79dcfa49feaac2d2020f"
-dependencies = [
- "zeroize",
-]
+checksum = "f5a0543d9a0a29ecb1d2046beb7547e97941de03228a3f31e15addfc78836049"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "ascon-aead128"
diff --git a/ascon-aead128/CHANGELOG.md b/ascon-aead128/CHANGELOG.md
index 76ea61c0..1de3ef18 100644
--- a/ascon-aead128/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/ascon-aead128/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## Unreleased
+### Changed
+- Build against the released `ascon` v0.5.0: the permutation state is now a
+  plain array with free `permute*` functions, and the state is zeroized by
+  this crate under the `zeroize` feature since `ascon` no longer has one
+
 ## 0.1.1 (2026-08-21)
 ### Changed
 - Replace `subtle` with `ctutils` ([#879])
diff --git a/ascon-aead128/Cargo.toml b/ascon-aead128/Cargo.toml
index f5a5c2ba..ab8267f8 100644
--- a/ascon-aead128/Cargo.toml
+++ b/ascon-aead128/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ rust-version = "1.85"
 
 [dependencies]
 aead = { version = "0.6", default-features = false }
-ascon = "0.5.0-rc.0"
+ascon = "0.5"
 ctutils = "0.4"
 
 # optional dependencies
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ arrayvec = ["aead/arrayvec"]
 bytes = ["aead/bytes"]
 getrandom = ["aead/getrandom"]
 rand_core = ["aead/rand_core"]
-zeroize = ["dep:zeroize", "ascon/zeroize"]
+zeroize = ["dep:zeroize"]
 
 [lints]
 workspace = true
diff --git a/ascon-aead128/src/asconcore.rs b/ascon-aead128/src/asconcore.rs
index 4c8c3bde..c21a0ff6 100644
--- a/ascon-aead128/src/asconcore.rs
+++ b/ascon-aead128/src/asconcore.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ use aead::{
     consts::U16,
     inout::InOutBuf,
 };
-use ascon::State;
+use ascon::{State, permute8, permute12};
 use ctutils::CtEq;
 
 /// Produce mask for padding.
@@ -103,17 +103,24 @@ pub(crate) struct AsconCore<'a, P: Parameters> {
     key: &'a P::InternalKey,
 }
 
+#[cfg(feature = "zeroize")]
+impl<P: Parameters> Drop for AsconCore<'_, P> {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        zeroize::Zeroize::zeroize(&mut self.state);
+    }
+}
+
 impl<'a, P: Parameters> AsconCore<'a, P> {
     pub(crate) fn new(internal_key: &'a P::InternalKey, nonce: &Array<u8, U16>) -> Self {
-        let mut state = State::new(
+        let mut state: State = [
             P::IV,
             internal_key.get_k1(),
             internal_key.get_k2(),
             u64_from_bytes(&nonce[..8]),
             u64_from_bytes(&nonce[8..]),
-        );
+        ];
 
-        state.permute_12();
+        permute12(&mut state);
         state[3] ^= internal_key.get_k1();
         state[4] ^= internal_key.get_k2();
 
@@ -125,7 +132,7 @@ impl<'a, P: Parameters> AsconCore<'a, P> {
 
     /// Permutation with 12 rounds and application of the key at the end
     fn permute_12_and_apply_key(&mut self) {
-        self.state.permute_12();
+        permute12(&mut self.state);
         self.state[3] ^= self.key.get_k1();
         self.state[4] ^= self.key.get_k2();
     }
@@ -133,7 +140,7 @@ impl<'a, P: Parameters> AsconCore<'a, P> {
     /// Permutation with 6 or 8 rounds based on the parameters
     #[inline(always)]
     fn permute_state(&mut self) {
-        self.state.permute_8();
+        permute8(&mut self.state);
     }
 
     fn process_associated_data(&mut self, associated_data: &[u8]) {