diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3b75817c13ad..9a331d7d1cbc 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
 VERSION = 6
 PATCHLEVEL = 8
-SUBLEVEL = 8
+SUBLEVEL = 9
 EXTRAVERSION =
 NAME = Hurr durr I'ma ninja sloth