diff --git a/kong-2.8.0-0.rockspec b/kong-2.8.1-0.rockspec
similarity index 99%
rename from kong-2.8.0-0.rockspec
rename to kong-2.8.1-0.rockspec
index 8279817368ca..a758f03add31 100644
--- a/kong-2.8.0-0.rockspec
+++ b/kong-2.8.1-0.rockspec
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 package = "kong"
-version = "2.8.0-0"
+version = "2.8.1-0"
 rockspec_format = "3.0"
 supported_platforms = {"linux", "macosx"}
 source = {
   url = "git://github.com/Kong/kong",
-  tag = "2.8.0"
+  tag = "2.8.1"
 }
 description = {
   summary = "Kong is a scalable and customizable API Management Layer built on top of Nginx.",
diff --git a/kong/meta.lua b/kong/meta.lua
index 36a96b45b036..0a82752f9a18 100644
--- a/kong/meta.lua
+++ b/kong/meta.lua
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 local version = setmetatable({
   major = 2,
   minor = 8,
-  patch = 0,
+  patch = 1,
   --suffix = "rc.1"
 }, {
   -- our Makefile during certain releases adjusts this line. Any changes to