diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 3ad0595ad..9cec7165a 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-3.1.5
+3.1.6
diff --git a/doc/source/changes.rst b/doc/source/changes.rst
index 0fd5637c4..d1fd30252 100644
--- a/doc/source/changes.rst
+++ b/doc/source/changes.rst
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+3.1.6
+=====
+
+* Greatly reduced package size, see https://github.com/gitpython-developers/GitPython/pull/1031
+
 3.1.5
 =====