diff --git a/CHANGELOG.asciidoc b/CHANGELOG.asciidoc
index f4b96777c..fc6d2382f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.asciidoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.asciidoc
@@ -21,6 +21,12 @@ endif::[]
 // Using the template above, release notes go here.
 // CHANGELOG_AUTOMATION_KEYWORD
 
+[[release-notes-v1.8.1]]
+=== v1.8.1 - 2023/03/09
+[float]
+==== Bug fixes
+* Fix for the agent causing very high CPU usage because it's creating frequent connections to Elastic APM Server {pull}877[#877]
+
 [[release-notes-v1.8.0]]
 === v1.8.0 - 2023/02/27
 [float]
diff --git a/docs/release-notes.asciidoc b/docs/release-notes.asciidoc
index de9919f9b..49fc1b300 100644
--- a/docs/release-notes.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/release-notes.asciidoc
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 [[release-notes]]
 == Release notes
 
+* <<release-notes-v1.8.1>>
 * <<release-notes-v1.8.0>>
 * <<release-notes-v1.7.2>>
 * <<release-notes-v1.7.1>>
diff --git a/src/ElasticApm/ElasticApm.php b/src/ElasticApm/ElasticApm.php
index 9f285b480..27e5c6df8 100644
--- a/src/ElasticApm/ElasticApm.php
+++ b/src/ElasticApm/ElasticApm.php
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ final class ElasticApm
 {
     use StaticClassTrait;
 
-    public const VERSION = '1.8.0';
+    public const VERSION = '1.8.1';
 
     /**
      * Begins a new transaction and sets it as the current transaction.
diff --git a/src/ext/elastic_apm_version.h b/src/ext/elastic_apm_version.h
index 5bbed7640..0552c77f8 100644
--- a/src/ext/elastic_apm_version.h
+++ b/src/ext/elastic_apm_version.h
@@ -18,4 +18,4 @@
  */
 #pragma once
 
-#define PHP_ELASTIC_APM_VERSION "1.8.0"
+#define PHP_ELASTIC_APM_VERSION "1.8.1"