diff --git a/META b/META
index e547b0d58799eba33e8946c05876e2cf3bbdf3f3..9a02535939d0833d569b451543f3f5a334181c57 100644
--- a/META
+++ b/META
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
   Minor:	1
   Micro:        0
   Version:	2.1.0
-  Release:	0.pre7
+  Release:	0.pre8
 ##
 #  When changing API_CURRENT update src/common/slurm_protocol_common.h
 #  with a new SLURM_PROTOCOL_VERSION signifing the old one and the version 
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 95f51d756a1f648ea972d108d8f399c41b5d0670..aa8c2de417a733b07372e3e2cde5aa0a3be97ec2 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 This file describes changes in recent versions of SLURM. It primarily
 documents those changes that are of interest to users and admins.
 
+* Changes in SLURM 2.1.0-pre9
+=============================
+
 * Changes in SLURM 2.1.0-pre8
 =============================
  -- Rearranged the "scontrol show job" output into functional groupings