diff --git a/docs/changelog.asciidoc b/docs/changelog.asciidoc
index 4dbf11907..c4dcc3b5a 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/changelog.asciidoc
@@ -1,6 +1,17 @@
 [[changelog-client]]
 == Release notes
 
+[discrete]
+=== 8.12.1
+
+[discrete]
+==== Fixes
+
+[discrete]
+===== Fix hang in bulk helper semaphore https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-js/pull/2027[#2027]
+
+The failing state could be reached when a server's response times are slower than flushInterval.
+
 [discrete]
 === 8.12.0
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 7e3d637b0..0695e42a5 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "@elastic/elasticsearch",
-  "version": "8.12.0",
-  "versionCanary": "8.12.0-canary.0",
+  "version": "8.12.1",
+  "versionCanary": "8.12.1-canary.0",
   "description": "The official Elasticsearch client for Node.js",
   "main": "index.js",
   "types": "index.d.ts",