VERSION      | 2 +-
 doc/news.rst | 4 ++--

diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 454e621a24f73c12a1dc8330a78fccc9553c4c6a2c47b6e630804f25d0d3e26e..d430032a9fe3b79db8963e79f91e6195c340f04ab0e2652268350b3958014b23 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-4.8
+4.9
diff --git a/doc/news.rst b/doc/news.rst
index 22d3087458747d0755430d13fb144297ed1660fd031ba4fdd5bf7268a586d4ab..863c684ce2e82944e0ef38f9c8e056cc3ed0393f802bf013daf34b8867f4b85a 100644
--- a/doc/news.rst
+++ b/doc/news.rst
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 News
 ====
 
-.. _release4.8:
+.. _release4.9:
 
-4.8
+4.9
 ---
 * Minor decode speed improvements
 * Much faster UTCTime/GeneralizedTime decoders