diff --git a/.github/workflows/linters.yml b/.github/workflows/linters.yml
index 03fc5de90ab4..e37d7b5ee221 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/linters.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/linters.yml
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
       - name: Run zizmor
-        uses: zizmorcore/zizmor-action@e673c3917a1aef3c65c972347ed84ccd013ecda4 # v0.2.0
+        uses: zizmorcore/zizmor-action@e639db99335bc9038abc0e066dfcd72e23d26fb4 # v0.3.0
         with:
           advanced-security: false
           annotations: true
diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index c7a51b961ecc..d1972c080070 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 repos:
   - repo: https://github.com/psf/black-pre-commit-mirror
-    rev: 25.9.0
+    rev: 25.12.0
     hooks:
     - id: black
       exclude: \.py-tpl$
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ repos:
     hooks:
       - id: blacken-docs
         additional_dependencies:
-        - black==25.9.0
+        - black==25.12.0
         files: 'docs/.*\.txt$'
         args: ["--rst-literal-block"]
   - repo: https://github.com/PyCQA/isort
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@ repos:
     hooks:
       - id: flake8
   - repo: https://github.com/pre-commit/mirrors-eslint
-    rev: v9.36.0
+    rev: v9.39.1
     hooks:
       - id: eslint
   - repo: https://github.com/zizmorcore/zizmor-pre-commit
-    rev: v1.16.3 
+    rev: v1.19.0
     hooks:
     - id: zizmor
diff --git a/django/contrib/admin/checks.py b/django/contrib/admin/checks.py
index 10257a54bf89..d14515e8a424 100644
--- a/django/contrib/admin/checks.py
+++ b/django/contrib/admin/checks.py
@@ -236,14 +236,20 @@ def _check_autocomplete_fields_item(self, obj, field_name, label):
                     id="admin.E038",
                 )
             try:
+                if isinstance(field.remote_field.model, str):
+                    raise NotRegistered
                 related_admin = obj.admin_site.get_model_admin(field.remote_field.model)
             except NotRegistered:
+                # field.remote_field.model could be a string or a class.
+                remote_model = getattr(
+                    field.remote_field.model, "__name__", field.remote_field.model
+                )
                 return [
                     checks.Error(
                         'An admin for model "%s" has to be registered '
                         "to be referenced by %s.autocomplete_fields."
                         % (
-                            field.remote_field.model.__name__,
+                            remote_model,
                             type(obj).__name__,
                         ),
                         obj=obj.__class__,
diff --git a/tests/modeladmin/test_checks.py b/tests/modeladmin/test_checks.py
index fbd63abfbf15..c493148eb9cf 100644
--- a/tests/modeladmin/test_checks.py
+++ b/tests/modeladmin/test_checks.py
@@ -1724,6 +1724,28 @@ class Admin(ModelAdmin):
             invalid_obj=Admin,
         )
 
+    @isolate_apps("modeladmin")
+    def test_autocomplete_e039_unresolved_model(self):
+        class UnresolvedForeignKeyModel(models.Model):
+            unresolved = models.ForeignKey("missing.Model", models.CASCADE)
+
+            class Meta:
+                app_label = "modeladmin"
+
+        class Admin(ModelAdmin):
+            autocomplete_fields = ("unresolved",)
+
+        self.assertIsInvalid(
+            Admin,
+            UnresolvedForeignKeyModel,
+            msg=(
+                'An admin for model "missing.Model" has to be registered '
+                "to be referenced by Admin.autocomplete_fields."
+            ),
+            id="admin.E039",
+            invalid_obj=Admin,
+        )
+
     def test_autocomplete_e040(self):
         class NoSearchFieldsAdmin(ModelAdmin):
             pass