diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 85fe29709..5b8e77e8f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [5.3.0] - 2024-05-30
+- Fix warning when calling hasVariable for an undefined variable [#977](https://github.com/smarty-php/smarty/issues/977)
+- Added `$smarty->prependTemplateDir()` method [#1022](https://github.com/smarty-php/smarty/issues/1022)
+
+
 ## [5.2.0] - 2024-05-28
 - Fixed a code injection vulnerability in extends-tag. This addresses CVE-2024-35226.
 - Added `$smarty->setCacheModifiedCheck()` setter for cache_modified_check
diff --git a/changelog/1022.md b/changelog/1022.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 5833ce028..000000000
--- a/changelog/1022.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-- Added `$smarty->prependTemplateDir()` method [#1022](https://github.com/smarty-php/smarty/issues/1022)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog/977.md b/changelog/977.md
deleted file mode 100644
index d41453c1b..000000000
--- a/changelog/977.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-- Fix warning when calling hasVariable for an undefined variable [#977](https://github.com/smarty-php/smarty/issues/977)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Smarty.php b/src/Smarty.php
index 4f1bf425d..42eefe9ad 100644
--- a/src/Smarty.php
+++ b/src/Smarty.php
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ class Smarty extends \Smarty\TemplateBase {
 	/**
 	 * smarty version
 	 */
-	const SMARTY_VERSION = '5.2.0';
+	const SMARTY_VERSION = '5.3.0';
 
 	/**
 	 * define caching modes