diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index f4635ef309a..38163ed941d 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-AC_INIT([vowpal_wabbit], [8.3.3], [jl@hunch.net], [vowpal_wabbit], [https://github.com/JohnLangford/vowpal_wabbit])
+AC_INIT([vowpal_wabbit], [8.4.0], [jl@hunch.net], [vowpal_wabbit], [https://github.com/JohnLangford/vowpal_wabbit])
 AC_CONFIG_HEADERS(vowpalwabbit/config.h)
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([subdir-objects foreign])