We show that if
X
⊂
P
k
N
X\subset \mathbb P^N_k
is a normal variety of dimension
≥
3
\geq 3
and
H
⊂
P
k
N
H\subset \mathbb P^N_k
a very general hypersurface of degree
d
=
4
d=4
or
≥
6
\geq 6
, then the restriction map
Cl
(
X
)
→
Cl
(
X
∩
H
)
\operatorname {Cl}(X)\to \operatorname {Cl}(X\cap H)
is an isomorphism up to torsion. If
dim
X
≥
4
\dim X\geq 4
, the result holds for
d
≥
2
d\geq 2
. The proof uses the relative Jacobian of a curve fibration, together with a specialization argument, and the result holds over fields of arbitrary characteristic.