diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6179948..ae7c458 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [2.8.1] - 2026-09-18
+
 ### Added
 
 - **An Agent Skill for coding agents.** A model trained before 2026 has never
@@ -995,7 +997,8 @@ The major version marks the scope of what is added, not a migration burden.
 - `InterlockDeprecationWarning` (subclasses `UserWarning`, visible by default).
 - `py.typed`; strict mypy and pyright; 100% test coverage.
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/bagowix/interlock/compare/v2.8.0...HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/bagowix/interlock/compare/v2.8.1...HEAD
+[2.8.1]: https://github.com/bagowix/interlock/compare/v2.8.0...v2.8.1
 [2.8.0]: https://github.com/bagowix/interlock/compare/v2.7.0...v2.8.0
 [2.7.0]: https://github.com/bagowix/interlock/compare/v2.6.1...v2.7.0
 [2.6.1]: https://github.com/bagowix/interlock/compare/v2.6.0...v2.6.1
diff --git a/docs/comparison.md b/docs/comparison.md
index 38e7ecd..14ab88d 100644
--- a/docs/comparison.md
+++ b/docs/comparison.md
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ choice.
 | OpenTelemetry metrics | ✅ | — | — | — | — |
 | Operator overrides (force-open / disable / shadow mode) | ✅ | — | — | — | — |
 | Years of production use | new | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
-| Latest release (as of September 2026) | 2.8.0 · 2026 | 1.4.1 · 2025 | 2.1.3 | 1.2.0 · 2021 | 3.0.1 · 2024 |
+| Latest release (as of September 2026) | 2.8.1 · 2026 | 1.4.1 · 2025 | 2.1.3 | 1.2.0 · 2021 | 3.0.1 · 2024 |
 | Python | ≥ 3.11 | ≥ 3.9 | ≥ 3.8 | ≥ 3.6 | ≥ 3.9 |
 
 <sub>Compared against pybreaker 1.4.1, circuitbreaker 2.1.3, aiobreaker 1.2.0
diff --git a/docs/llms-full.txt b/docs/llms-full.txt
index d9ffbb3..fb1cf4d 100644
--- a/docs/llms-full.txt
+++ b/docs/llms-full.txt
@@ -770,7 +770,7 @@ choice.
 | OpenTelemetry metrics | ✅ | — | — | — | — |
 | Operator overrides (force-open / disable / shadow mode) | ✅ | — | — | — | — |
 | Years of production use | new | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
-| Latest release (as of September 2026) | 2.8.0 · 2026 | 1.4.1 · 2025 | 2.1.3 | 1.2.0 · 2021 | 3.0.1 · 2024 |
+| Latest release (as of September 2026) | 2.8.1 · 2026 | 1.4.1 · 2025 | 2.1.3 | 1.2.0 · 2021 | 3.0.1 · 2024 |
 | Python | ≥ 3.11 | ≥ 3.9 | ≥ 3.8 | ≥ 3.6 | ≥ 3.9 |
 
 <sub>Compared against pybreaker 1.4.1, circuitbreaker 2.1.3, aiobreaker 1.2.0
diff --git a/interlock/version.py b/interlock/version.py
index ac44842..a2914fc 100644
--- a/interlock/version.py
+++ b/interlock/version.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 __all__ = ('VERSION',)
 
-VERSION = '2.8.0'
+VERSION = '2.8.1'
 """The installed version of interlock.
 
 Guaranteed to comply with PEP 440 version specifiers.