diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 093f6650524..5ccde5de8bc 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-Release 8.1.0 (in development)
-==============================
+Release 8.1.0 (released Oct 10, 2024)
+=====================================
 
 Dependencies
 ------------
diff --git a/sphinx/__init__.py b/sphinx/__init__.py
index bf62f813e07..1b6d7ab92b7 100644
--- a/sphinx/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinx/__init__.py
@@ -30,11 +30,11 @@
 #:
 #: .. versionadded:: 1.2
 #:    Before version 1.2, check the string ``sphinx.__version__``.
-version_info = (8, 1, 0, 'beta', 0)
+version_info = (8, 1, 0, 'final', 0)
 
 package_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
 
-_in_development = True
+_in_development = False
 if _in_development:
     # Only import subprocess if needed
     import subprocess