diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index 3c13f13..fdca4c3 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-    ".": "0.5.5"
+    ".": "0.5.6"
 }
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a9e8681..8024a86 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [0.5.6](https://github.com/StackOneHQ/defender/compare/defender-v0.5.5...defender-v0.5.6) (2026-04-01)
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* **ENG-12540:** prevent unhandled rejection cascade on ONNX load failure ([#37](https://github.com/StackOneHQ/defender/issues/37)) ([52c99e3](https://github.com/StackOneHQ/defender/commit/52c99e329b22af2e96106fb1e1f9950e66855c43))
+
 ## [0.5.5](https://github.com/StackOneHQ/defender/compare/defender-v0.5.4...defender-v0.5.5) (2026-03-31)
 
 
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 2c43c06..b70f51e 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
     "name": "@stackone/defender",
-    "version": "0.5.5",
+    "version": "0.5.6",
     "lockfileVersion": 3,
     "requires": true,
     "packages": {
         "": {
             "name": "@stackone/defender",
-            "version": "0.5.5",
+            "version": "0.5.6",
             "license": "Apache-2.0",
             "dependencies": {
                 "nanoid": "3.3.11"
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index e6a2fc8..cbaa491 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
     "name": "@stackone/defender",
-    "version": "0.5.5",
+    "version": "0.5.6",
     "description": "Prompt injection defense framework for AI tool-calling",
     "main": "dist/index.cjs",
     "module": "dist/index.mjs",