diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index c523ce1..7e334b0 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  ".": "1.8.0"
+  ".": "1.8.1"
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3ea04bc..474bd48 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 1.8.1 (2026-04-23)
+
+Full Changelog: [v1.8.0...v1.8.1](https://github.com/CASParser/cas-parser-python/compare/v1.8.0...v1.8.1)
+
+### Chores
+
+* **internal:** more robust bootstrap script ([058a8e9](https://github.com/CASParser/cas-parser-python/commit/058a8e9da54a73314e16eb650e8e45e3982cc677))
+
 ## 1.8.0 (2026-04-19)
 
 Full Changelog: [v1.7.0...v1.8.0](https://github.com/CASParser/cas-parser-python/compare/v1.7.0...v1.8.0)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 99d4afd..3c314f0 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "cas-parser-python"
-version = "1.8.0"
+version = "1.8.1"
 description = "The official Python library for the cas-parser API"
 dynamic = ["readme"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"
diff --git a/scripts/bootstrap b/scripts/bootstrap
index 4638ec6..5a23841 100755
--- a/scripts/bootstrap
+++ b/scripts/bootstrap
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ set -e
 
 cd "$(dirname "$0")/.."
 
-if [ -f "Brewfile" ] && [ "$(uname -s)" = "Darwin" ] && [ "$SKIP_BREW" != "1" ] && [ -t 0 ]; then
+if [ -f "Brewfile" ] && [ "$(uname -s)" = "Darwin" ] && [ "${SKIP_BREW:-}" != "1" ] && [ -t 0 ]; then
   brew bundle check >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
     echo -n "==> Install Homebrew dependencies? (y/N): "
     read -r response
diff --git a/src/cas_parser/_version.py b/src/cas_parser/_version.py
index e5ca681..1495ca7 100644
--- a/src/cas_parser/_version.py
+++ b/src/cas_parser/_version.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # File generated from our OpenAPI spec by Stainless. See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.
 
 __title__ = "cas_parser"
-__version__ = "1.8.0"  # x-release-please-version
+__version__ = "1.8.1"  # x-release-please-version