diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 8cd6400..76256ec 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 =====================
 
 
-Release 0.8.1: Unreleased
+Release 0.8.1: 2015-10-12
 
 INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
 
diff --git a/docs/pom.xml b/docs/pom.xml
index df6f3ef..a839bc9 100644
--- a/docs/pom.xml
+++ b/docs/pom.xml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
     <parent>
       <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
       <artifactId>tez</artifactId>
-      <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+      <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
     </parent>
     <artifactId>tez-docs</artifactId>
     <packaging>pom</packaging>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index d1d5fe6..06a482a 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
   <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
   <artifactId>tez</artifactId>
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
-  <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+  <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   <name>tez</name>
 
   <licenses>
diff --git a/tez-api/pom.xml b/tez-api/pom.xml
index b3eb97c..2ca7484 100644
--- a/tez-api/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-api/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-api</artifactId>
 
diff --git a/tez-common/pom.xml b/tez-common/pom.xml
index 49846ca..f1667e5 100644
--- a/tez-common/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-common/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-common</artifactId>
 
diff --git a/tez-dag/pom.xml b/tez-dag/pom.xml
index 0829a8f..3aa3f0e 100644
--- a/tez-dag/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-dag/pom.xml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <properties>
     <tez.component>tez-dag</tez.component>
diff --git a/tez-dist/pom.xml b/tez-dist/pom.xml
index 0605c63..4aa6ec9 100644
--- a/tez-dist/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-dist/pom.xml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-dist</artifactId>
 
diff --git a/tez-examples/pom.xml b/tez-examples/pom.xml
index 47ee5b3..900db2f 100644
--- a/tez-examples/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-examples/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
 
   <artifactId>tez-examples</artifactId>
diff --git a/tez-ext-service-tests/pom.xml b/tez-ext-service-tests/pom.xml
index 8c1b6d4..cb3b53d 100644
--- a/tez-ext-service-tests/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-ext-service-tests/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <artifactId>tez</artifactId>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
 
   <artifactId>tez-ext-service-tests</artifactId>
diff --git a/tez-mapreduce/pom.xml b/tez-mapreduce/pom.xml
index d61d6d6..76753cd 100644
--- a/tez-mapreduce/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-mapreduce/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-mapreduce</artifactId>
 
diff --git a/tez-plugins/pom.xml b/tez-plugins/pom.xml
index 7114bdc..b085f60 100644
--- a/tez-plugins/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-plugins/pom.xml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-plugins</artifactId>
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
diff --git a/tez-plugins/tez-history-parser/pom.xml b/tez-plugins/tez-history-parser/pom.xml
index ee1ee13..98b742d 100644
--- a/tez-plugins/tez-history-parser/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-plugins/tez-history-parser/pom.xml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez-plugins</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-history-parser</artifactId>
 
diff --git a/tez-plugins/tez-yarn-timeline-history-with-acls/pom.xml b/tez-plugins/tez-yarn-timeline-history-with-acls/pom.xml
index 81d3685..e06400a 100644
--- a/tez-plugins/tez-yarn-timeline-history-with-acls/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-plugins/tez-yarn-timeline-history-with-acls/pom.xml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez-plugins</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-yarn-timeline-history-with-acls</artifactId>
 
diff --git a/tez-plugins/tez-yarn-timeline-history/pom.xml b/tez-plugins/tez-yarn-timeline-history/pom.xml
index 7932f49..cbb79a5 100644
--- a/tez-plugins/tez-yarn-timeline-history/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-plugins/tez-yarn-timeline-history/pom.xml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez-plugins</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-yarn-timeline-history</artifactId>
 
diff --git a/tez-runtime-internals/pom.xml b/tez-runtime-internals/pom.xml
index ed678f3..73c807e 100644
--- a/tez-runtime-internals/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-runtime-internals/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-runtime-internals</artifactId>
 
diff --git a/tez-runtime-library/pom.xml b/tez-runtime-library/pom.xml
index efb9c12..3349572 100644
--- a/tez-runtime-library/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-runtime-library/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-runtime-library</artifactId>
 
diff --git a/tez-tests/pom.xml b/tez-tests/pom.xml
index 263f1ec..0aa1eb1 100644
--- a/tez-tests/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-tests/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-tests</artifactId>
 
diff --git a/tez-tools/analyzers/job-analyzer/pom.xml b/tez-tools/analyzers/job-analyzer/pom.xml
index 37a06bf..218e05a 100644
--- a/tez-tools/analyzers/job-analyzer/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-tools/analyzers/job-analyzer/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez-perf-analyzer</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-job-analyzer</artifactId>
 
diff --git a/tez-tools/analyzers/pom.xml b/tez-tools/analyzers/pom.xml
index bb5d896..d907074 100644
--- a/tez-tools/analyzers/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-tools/analyzers/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez-tools</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-perf-analyzer</artifactId>
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
diff --git a/tez-tools/pom.xml b/tez-tools/pom.xml
index bf3053e..dbb1710 100644
--- a/tez-tools/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-tools/pom.xml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-tools</artifactId>
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
diff --git a/tez-tools/tez-javadoc-tools/pom.xml b/tez-tools/tez-javadoc-tools/pom.xml
index 11290cc..d1f79f8 100644
--- a/tez-tools/tez-javadoc-tools/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-tools/tez-javadoc-tools/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez-tools</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-javadoc-tools</artifactId>
 
diff --git a/tez-tools/tez-tfile-parser/pom.xml b/tez-tools/tez-tfile-parser/pom.xml
index c0ce640..2a9d280 100644
--- a/tez-tools/tez-tfile-parser/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-tools/tez-tfile-parser/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez-tools</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-tfile-parser</artifactId>
 
diff --git a/tez-ui/pom.xml b/tez-ui/pom.xml
index dcf4878..7d41a23 100644
--- a/tez-ui/pom.xml
+++ b/tez-ui/pom.xml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.tez</groupId>
     <artifactId>tez</artifactId>
-    <version>0.8.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.8.1-alpha</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>tez-ui</artifactId>
   <packaging>war</packaging>