diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index fa12e35c1..4e195a796 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ Here's a screenshot of the toolbar in action:
 In addition to the built-in panels, a number of third-party panels are
 contributed by the community.
 
-The current stable version of the Debug Toolbar is 4.4.4. It works on
+The current stable version of the Debug Toolbar is 4.4.5. It works on
 Django ≥ 4.2.0.
 
 The Debug Toolbar does not currently support `Django's asynchronous views
diff --git a/debug_toolbar/__init__.py b/debug_toolbar/__init__.py
index f5f18057b..a1a09f2a1 100644
--- a/debug_toolbar/__init__.py
+++ b/debug_toolbar/__init__.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 # Do not use pkg_resources to find the version but set it here directly!
 # see issue #1446
-VERSION = "4.4.4"
+VERSION = "4.4.5"
 
 # Code that discovers files or modules in INSTALLED_APPS imports this module.
 urls = "debug_toolbar.urls", APP_NAME
diff --git a/debug_toolbar/panels/alerts.py b/debug_toolbar/panels/alerts.py
index 32c656dde..e640dcdd5 100644
--- a/debug_toolbar/panels/alerts.py
+++ b/debug_toolbar/panels/alerts.py
@@ -83,8 +83,7 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
 
     @property
     def nav_subtitle(self):
-        alerts = self.get_stats()["alerts"]
-        if alerts:
+        if alerts := self.get_stats().get("alerts"):
             alert_text = "alert" if len(alerts) == 1 else "alerts"
             return f"{len(alerts)} {alert_text}"
         else:
diff --git a/debug_toolbar/panels/templates/panel.py b/debug_toolbar/panels/templates/panel.py
index 182f80aab..ee2a066c7 100644
--- a/debug_toolbar/panels/templates/panel.py
+++ b/debug_toolbar/panels/templates/panel.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from contextlib import contextmanager
+from importlib.util import find_spec
 from os.path import normpath
 from pprint import pformat, saferepr
 
@@ -14,7 +15,11 @@
 from debug_toolbar.panels import Panel
 from debug_toolbar.panels.sql.tracking import SQLQueryTriggered, allow_sql
 from debug_toolbar.panels.templates import views
-from debug_toolbar.panels.templates.jinja2 import patch_jinja_render
+
+if find_spec("jinja2"):
+    from debug_toolbar.panels.templates.jinja2 import patch_jinja_render
+
+    patch_jinja_render()
 
 # Monkey-patch to enable the template_rendered signal. The receiver returns
 # immediately when the panel is disabled to keep the overhead small.
@@ -26,8 +31,6 @@
     Template.original_render = Template._render
     Template._render = instrumented_test_render
 
-patch_jinja_render()
-
 # Monkey-patch to store items added by template context processors. The
 # overhead is sufficiently small to justify enabling it unconditionally.
 
diff --git a/docs/changes.rst b/docs/changes.rst
index 539c9883c..952e6e996 100644
--- a/docs/changes.rst
+++ b/docs/changes.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ Change log
 Pending
 -------
 
+4.4.5 (2024-07-05)
+------------------
+
+* Avoided crashing when the alerts panel was skipped.
+* Removed the inadvertently added hard dependency on Jinja2.
+
 4.4.4 (2024-07-05)
 ------------------
 
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index b155e44ef..8b9d06396 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 copyright = copyright.format(datetime.date.today().year)
 
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags
-release = "4.4.4"
+release = "4.4.5"
 
 
 # -- General configuration ---------------------------------------------------