diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 1cb338f16da..5d28897425c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 Please view this file on the master branch, on stable branches it's out of date.
 
+v 8.1.0 (unreleased)
+  - 
+
 v 8.0.1
   - Improve CI migration procedure and documentation
 
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 939cbc3ea74..a2264f05f50 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-8.0.0.pre
+8.1.0.pre