diff --git a/cmd/version.go b/cmd/version.go
index 10a828f0f51..1aecbc9110a 100644
--- a/cmd/version.go
+++ b/cmd/version.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ var (
 	GitDescribe string
 
 	// Version is main version number that is being run at the moment.
-	Version = "4.27.5"
+	Version = "4.28.1"
 
 	// VersionPrerelease is a pre-release marker for the version. If this is "" (empty string)
 	// then it means that it is a final release. Otherwise, this is a pre-release
diff --git a/release_instructions.txt b/release_instructions.txt
index 81f1b16f836..f7cd58bc6b3 100644
--- a/release_instructions.txt
+++ b/release_instructions.txt
@@ -2,10 +2,6 @@
 - increment version in version.go
 - increment version in snapcraft.yaml
 - make sure local build passes
-- check manpage 
-  - ./scripts/generate-man-page-md.sh
-  - ./scripts/generate-man-page.sh
-  - man ./yq.1
 - run ./scripts/copy-docs.sh (and commit the changed in the yq-book branch)
 - commit version update changes
 - tag git with same version number
diff --git a/release_notes.txt b/release_notes.txt
index 45015049340..41eb74a080d 100644
--- a/release_notes.txt
+++ b/release_notes.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+4.28.1:
+  - Added `setpath` and `delpaths` operators, like jq (#1374)
+  - Added `is_key` operator, to check if a match was a key when recursing
+  - Added validation when attempting to add sequences to maps (#1341)
+
 4.27.5:
   - Fixed relative merge bug #1333
 
diff --git a/snap/snapcraft.yaml b/snap/snapcraft.yaml
index fd993656f8c..1e8f6683387 100644
--- a/snap/snapcraft.yaml
+++ b/snap/snapcraft.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name: yq
-version: '4.27.5'
+version: '4.28.1'
 summary: A lightweight and portable command-line YAML processor
 description: |
   The aim of the project is to be the jq or sed of yaml files.