diff --git a/.bumpversion.cfg b/.bumpversion.cfg
index 3238a4cc..9a2744e1 100644
--- a/.bumpversion.cfg
+++ b/.bumpversion.cfg
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [bumpversion]
-current_version = 8.0.1
+current_version = 8.1.0
 commit = True
 message = Bump version: {current_version} → {new_version} [skip ci]
 
diff --git a/ibm_watson/version.py b/ibm_watson/version.py
index 49920925..2d63b74a 100644
--- a/ibm_watson/version.py
+++ b/ibm_watson/version.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-__version__ = '8.0.1'
+__version__ = '8.1.0'
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 06d519f8..e34bb44b 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 from setuptools import setup
 from os import path
 
-__version__ = '8.0.1'
+__version__ = '8.1.0'
 
 # read contents of README file
 this_directory = path.abspath(path.dirname(__file__))