diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index cb4ef03..012bfa0 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,3 +1,25 @@
+Version 2.9
+===========
+
+Released 2016-09-18
+
+* New features:
+
+  - Add ``json_auto_t`` to automatically decref a value that goes out
+    of scope. Available only on GCC and Clang. (#301)
+
+* Build:
+
+  - Fix CMake build (at least on Linux) by removing conflicting
+    jansson_config.h from the distribution (#306)
+
+  - Change CMake install target generation to be optional (#305)
+
+* Documentation:
+
+  - Small documentation fixes.
+
+
 Version 2.8
 ===========
 
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 8808070..17974c2 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -86,10 +86,10 @@ endif (WIN32)
 # set (JANSSON_VERSION "2.3.1")
 # set (JANSSON_SOVERSION 2)
 
-set(JANSSON_DISPLAY_VERSION "2.8")
+set(JANSSON_DISPLAY_VERSION "2.9")
 
 # This is what is required to match the same numbers as automake's
-set(JANSSON_VERSION "4.8.0")
+set(JANSSON_VERSION "4.9.0")
 set(JANSSON_SOVERSION 4)
 
 # for CheckFunctionKeywords
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 17db6fc..f22ddac 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 AC_PREREQ([2.60])
-AC_INIT([jansson], [2.8], [petri@digip.org])
+AC_INIT([jansson], [2.9], [petri@digip.org])
 
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([.])
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([1.10 foreign])
diff --git a/doc/apiref.rst b/doc/apiref.rst
index 77578a9..ca38bbf 100644
--- a/doc/apiref.rst
+++ b/doc/apiref.rst
@@ -256,6 +256,8 @@ returns an error status.
 Scope Dereferencing
 -------------------
 
+.. versionadded:: 2.9
+
 It is possible to use the ``json_auto_t`` type to automatically
 dereference a value at the end of a scope. For example::
 
diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 993f196..5a0c868 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -24,4 +24,4 @@ libjansson_la_SOURCES = \
 libjansson_la_LDFLAGS = \
 	-no-undefined \
 	-export-symbols-regex '^json_' \
-	-version-info 12:0:8
+	-version-info 13:0:9
diff --git a/src/jansson.h b/src/jansson.h
index 4944248..591f2a9 100644
--- a/src/jansson.h
+++ b/src/jansson.h
@@ -21,11 +21,11 @@ extern "C" {
 /* version */
 
 #define JANSSON_MAJOR_VERSION  2
-#define JANSSON_MINOR_VERSION  8
+#define JANSSON_MINOR_VERSION  9
 #define JANSSON_MICRO_VERSION  0
 
 /* Micro version is omitted if it's 0 */
-#define JANSSON_VERSION  "2.8"
+#define JANSSON_VERSION  "2.9"
 
 /* Version as a 3-byte hex number, e.g. 0x010201 == 1.2.1. Use this
    for numeric comparisons, e.g. #if JANSSON_VERSION_HEX >= ... */