diff --git a/include/pybind11/detail/common.h b/include/pybind11/detail/common.h
index 454e6061b0..987f9d7c64 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/detail/common.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/detail/common.h
@@ -11,11 +11,11 @@
 
 #define PYBIND11_VERSION_MAJOR 2
 #define PYBIND11_VERSION_MINOR 12
-#define PYBIND11_VERSION_PATCH 0
+#define PYBIND11_VERSION_PATCH 1
 
 // Similar to Python's convention: https://docs.python.org/3/c-api/apiabiversion.html
 // Additional convention: 0xD = dev
-#define PYBIND11_VERSION_HEX 0x020C0000
+#define PYBIND11_VERSION_HEX 0x020C0100
 
 // Define some generic pybind11 helper macros for warning management.
 //
diff --git a/pybind11/_version.py b/pybind11/_version.py
index ab5a7bf5f5..464f01b783 100644
--- a/pybind11/_version.py
+++ b/pybind11/_version.py
@@ -8,5 +8,5 @@ def _to_int(s: str) -> Union[int, str]:
         return s
 
 
-__version__ = "2.12.0"
+__version__ = "2.12.1"
 version_info = tuple(_to_int(s) for s in __version__.split("."))