diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 3ef307a5..9d65c887 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Approximate change log for AVRDUDE by version.
 (For more detailed changes, see the ChangeLog file.)
 
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-Current:
+Version 5.9:
 
   * New devices supported:
 
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ Current:
 
   * Bugfixes
 
+      - see ChangeLog and ChangeLog-2009 for details
+
 Version 5.8:
 
   * Bugfixes; most importantly, fix a serious memory corruption for
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 6e80342d..5b40f002 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 # Process this file with autoconf to produce a configure script.
 
 AC_PREREQ(2.57)
-AC_INIT(avrdude, 5.8cvs, avrdude-dev@nongnu.org)
+AC_INIT(avrdude, 5.9, avrdude-dev@nongnu.org)
 
 AC_CANONICAL_BUILD
 AC_CANONICAL_HOST