diff --git a/RELEASE_NOTES.md b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
index d9f3f9c..0a234cf 100644
--- a/RELEASE_NOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # RELEASE NOTES
 
+***********************
+# testflo version 1.4.19
+July 29, 2024
+
+- added current directory to sys.path during try_import to avoid any relative import failures in test files  [#118](https://github.com/OpenMDAO/testflo/pull/118)
+
 ***********************
 # testflo version 1.4.18
 May 28, 2024
diff --git a/testflo/__init__.py b/testflo/__init__.py
index 4f1ac84..617ed72 100644
--- a/testflo/__init__.py
+++ b/testflo/__init__.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-__version__ = '1.4.19.dev0'
+__version__ = '1.4.19'