diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index d859b28..734643f 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 Change log for eprints2bags
 ===========================
 
+Version 1.8.1
+-------------
+
+* Significant performance improvement due to using multiple processes more efficiently
+
+
 Version 1.8.0
 -------------
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cd376ac..5ddb08c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,12 +10,16 @@ A program for downloading records from an EPrints server and creating [BagIt](ht
 [![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-BSD%203--Clause-blue.svg?style=flat-square)](https://choosealicense.com/licenses/bsd-3-clause)
 [![Python](https://img.shields.io/badge/Python-3.5+-brightgreen.svg?style=flat-square)](http://shields.io)
 [![Latest release](https://img.shields.io/badge/Latest_release-1.8.0-b44e88.svg?style=flat-square)](http://shields.io)
+<!--
 [![DOI](http://img.shields.io/badge/DOI-10.22002%20%2f%20D1.1157-blue.svg?style=flat-square)](https://data.caltech.edu/records/1157)
+-->
 
 
 🏁 Log of recent changes
 -----------------------
 
+_Version 1.8.1_: This minor release fixes a performance issue related to how multiple processes were used.  The program is much faster now.
+
 _Version 1.8.0_: This release brings significant changes to the behavior and user interface.  First, if desired, `eprints2bags` can now create a top-level bag containing the archived bags it creates.  This top-level bag itself can also be put into a single-file archive if desired.  This behavior is controlled by the new option `-e` in combination with the (renamed) option `-b` and the new option `-t`.  (The default behavior remains _not_ to create an overall bag or archive.)  Along with these changes, several existing command-line arguments have changed names and abbreviations.  Please see the help text for the new names.  Finally, a new option `-c` is available for changing the number of processes used during the bagging step to calculate checksums, and `eprints2bags` now uses multiple processes for that step by default.
 
 The file [CHANGES](CHANGES.md) contains a more complete change log that includes information about previous releases.
diff --git a/eprints2bags/__version__.py b/eprints2bags/__version__.py
index 44dde63..55f5f17 100644
--- a/eprints2bags/__version__.py
+++ b/eprints2bags/__version__.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 # @website https://github.com/caltechlibrary/eprints2bags
 # =============================================================================
 
-__version__     = '1.8.0'
+__version__     = '1.8.1'
 __title__       = 'eprints2bags'
 __name__        = 'eprints2bags'
 __description__ = '''Package up EPrints materials as BagIt bags.'''