diff --git a/.bumpversion.cfg b/.bumpversion.cfg
index 9889dd54e6..d01609c4a7 100644
--- a/.bumpversion.cfg
+++ b/.bumpversion.cfg
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [bumpversion]
-current_version = 18.0.0
+current_version = 18.1.0
 files = VERSION faker/__init__.py docs/conf.py
 commit = True
 tag = True
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 7eae4e2e91..d4df1049f2 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-18.0.0
+18.1.0
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 47d034d6af..2546e28084 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -51,9 +51,9 @@
 # built documents.
 #
 # The short X.Y version.
-version = "18.0.0"
+version = "18.1.0"
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
-release = "18.0.0"
+release = "18.1.0"
 
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.
diff --git a/faker/__init__.py b/faker/__init__.py
index 77158ac6f7..04775812a2 100644
--- a/faker/__init__.py
+++ b/faker/__init__.py
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@
 from faker.generator import Generator
 from faker.proxy import Faker
 
-VERSION = "18.0.0"
+VERSION = "18.1.0"
 
 __all__ = ("Factory", "Generator", "Faker")