diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 8439bb5f..7067673f 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Package: xml2
 Title: Parse XML
-Version: 1.2.3
+Version: 1.2.4
 Authors@R: 
     c(person(given = "Hadley",
              family = "Wickham",
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 42245520..d683a28a 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+# xml2 1.2.4
+
 # xml2 1.2.3
 
 * Fix potential dangling pointer with internal `asXmlChar()` function (@michaelquinn32, #287).