diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 63e4bf9..bbc529b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 
+## v0.8.1 — 2026-02-11
+
+
+
 ## v0.8.0 — 2025-12-06
 ### Features
 - add buffer protocol support for zero-copy scanning (#251)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 1a1ee6b..d62e954 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "hyperscan"
-version = "0.8.0"
+version = "0.8.1"
 description = "Python bindings for Hyperscan."
 readme = "README.md"
 authors = [{ name = "David Gidwani", email = "david.gidwani@atomweight.io" }]
diff --git a/src/hyperscan/_version.py b/src/hyperscan/_version.py
index 777f190..8088f75 100644
--- a/src/hyperscan/_version.py
+++ b/src/hyperscan/_version.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-__version__ = "0.8.0"
+__version__ = "0.8.1"