bump version to 1.8.1 pre release
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index f9d2ad7..c1b0374 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # Require CMake 3.10. If available, use the policies up to CMake 3.22.
 cmake_minimum_required (VERSION 3.10...3.22)
 
-project (benchmark VERSION 1.8.0 LANGUAGES CXX)
+project (benchmark VERSION 1.8.1 LANGUAGES CXX)
 
 option(BENCHMARK_ENABLE_TESTING "Enable testing of the benchmark library." ON)
 option(BENCHMARK_ENABLE_EXCEPTIONS "Enable the use of exceptions in the benchmark library." ON)
diff --git a/MODULE.bazel b/MODULE.bazel
index 0337ccc..505510d 100644
--- a/MODULE.bazel
+++ b/MODULE.bazel
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-module(name = "com_github_google_benchmark", version="1.8.0")
+module(name = "com_github_google_benchmark", version="1.8.1")
 
 bazel_dep(name = "bazel_skylib", version = "1.4.1")
 bazel_dep(name = "platforms", version = "0.0.6")
diff --git a/bindings/python/google_benchmark/__init__.py b/bindings/python/google_benchmark/__init__.py
index a118dad..ebab5c2 100644
--- a/bindings/python/google_benchmark/__init__.py
+++ b/bindings/python/google_benchmark/__init__.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
     "State",
 ]
 
-__version__ = "1.8.0"
+__version__ = "1.8.1"
 
 
 class __OptionMaker: