diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index b312376389..dd104b6119 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
     <property name="debuglevel" value="source,lines,vars"/>
 
     <!-- default version and SCM information -->
-    <property name="base.version" value="3.8"/>
+    <property name="base.version" value="3.9"/>
     <property name="scm.connection" value="scm:git://git.apache.org/cassandra.git"/>
     <property name="scm.developerConnection" value="scm:git://git.apache.org/cassandra.git"/>
     <property name="scm.url" value="http://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf?p=cassandra.git;a=tree"/>
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index e071140422..b5e1f8bdcd 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+cassandra (3.9) unstable; urgency=medium
+
+  * New release
+
+ -- Michael Shuler <mshuler@apache.org>  Tue, 16 Aug 2016 17:50:13 -0500
+
 cassandra (3.8) unstable; urgency=medium
 
   * New release