diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0cbab4df51b92..1f32bb42f3288 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
 VERSION = 5
 PATCHLEVEL = 16
-SUBLEVEL = 8
+SUBLEVEL = 9
 EXTRAVERSION =
 NAME = Gobble Gobble