starting to work on release v1.9
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 39d4933..4e2c4ce 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -56,9 +56,9 @@
 # built documents.
 #
 # The short X.Y version.
-version = '1.8'
+version = '1.9'
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
-release = '1.8'
+release = '1.9.dev0'
 
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.
diff --git a/docs/release.rst b/docs/release.rst
index 1b24e33..305b707 100644
--- a/docs/release.rst
+++ b/docs/release.rst
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
     - update checksum to match the one computed by pypi
 - Get back to work
     - Update ``_version.py`` (add 'dev' and increment minor).
+    - Update version in ``docs/conf.py``
     - Update version macros in ``include/pybind11/common.h``
     - ``git add`` and ``git commit``.
       ``git push``