diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 302a2f78e9df1a7cccf9b035617bdc0ac2c9c746..b8adebc7ee2009dec9b286fd88e8b40ab56f9726 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,15 @@
+Changes for 0.8.1 'Eurasian hobby":
+-----------------------------------
+
+0.8.1 is a minor update on 0.8.0:
+ - Keep references to buffers valid after dav1d_close(). Fixes a regression
+   caused by the picture buffer pool added in 0.8.0.
+ - ARM32 optimizations for 10bit bitdepth for SGR
+ - ARM32 optimizations for 16bit bitdepth for blend/w_masl/emu_edge
+ - ARM64 optimizations for 10bit bitdepth for SGR
+ - x86 optimizations for wiener in SSE2/SSSE3/AVX2
+
+
 Changes for 0.8.0 'Eurasian hobby":
 -----------------------------------
 
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 8c936fd5df3164aab3fd93f2556ab117b8400006..07b25863c1a226ef0b3037695d4c1fc394430e06 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 # SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
 project('dav1d', ['c'],
-    version: '0.8.0',
+    version: '0.8.1',
     default_options: ['c_std=c99',
                       'warning_level=2',
                       'buildtype=release',