diff --git a/awkward-cpp/pyproject.toml b/awkward-cpp/pyproject.toml
index 43411b9299..2df2f56fca 100644
--- a/awkward-cpp/pyproject.toml
+++ b/awkward-cpp/pyproject.toml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ build-backend = "scikit_build_core.build"
 
 [project]
 name = "awkward_cpp"
-version = "38"
+version = "39"
 dependencies = [
     "numpy>=1.18.0",
     "importlib_resources;python_version < \"3.9\""
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index b2876972bd..f5d1424359 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
 [project]
 name = "awkward"
-version = "2.6.8"
+version = "2.6.9"
 description = "Manipulate JSON-like data with NumPy-like idioms."
 license = { text = "BSD-3-Clause" }
 requires-python = ">=3.8"
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ classifiers = [
     "Topic :: Utilities",
 ]
 dependencies = [
-    "awkward_cpp==38",
+    "awkward_cpp==39",
     "importlib_metadata>=4.13.0;python_version < \"3.12\"",
     "numpy>=1.18.0",
     "packaging",