diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e1537365..12b05a30 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,29 @@
 
 All notable changes to this project are documented in this file.
 
+## 1.16.1
+
+**Release date:** 2021-12-17
+
+This release contains updates to Kubernetes packages (1.23.0), Alpine (3.15)
+and load tester components.
+
+#### Improvements
+
+- Release loadtester v0.21.0
+  [#1083](https://github.com/fluxcd/flagger/pull/1083)
+- Add loadtester image pull secrets to Helm chart
+  [#1076](https://github.com/fluxcd/flagger/pull/1076)
+- Update libraries included in the load tester to newer versions
+  [#1063](https://github.com/fluxcd/flagger/pull/1063)
+  [#1080](https://github.com/fluxcd/flagger/pull/1080)
+- Update Kubernetes packages to v1.23.0
+  [#1078](https://github.com/fluxcd/flagger/pull/1078)
+- Update Alpine to 3.15
+  [#1081](https://github.com/fluxcd/flagger/pull/1081)
+- Update Go to v1.17
+  [#1077](https://github.com/fluxcd/flagger/pull/1077)
+
 ## 1.16.0
 
 **Release date:** 2021-11-22
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 30dc1004..c6c0deae 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -30,12 +30,12 @@ crd:
 version-set:
 	@next="$(TAG)" && \
 	current="$(VERSION)" && \
-	sed -i '' "s/$$current/$$next/g" pkg/version/version.go && \
-	sed -i '' "s/flagger:$$current/flagger:$$next/g" artifacts/flagger/deployment.yaml && \
-	sed -i '' "s/tag: $$current/tag: $$next/g" charts/flagger/values.yaml && \
-	sed -i '' "s/appVersion: $$current/appVersion: $$next/g" charts/flagger/Chart.yaml && \
-	sed -i '' "s/version: $$current/version: $$next/g" charts/flagger/Chart.yaml && \
-	sed -i '' "s/newTag: $$current/newTag: $$next/g" kustomize/base/flagger/kustomization.yaml && \
+	sed -i "s/$$current/$$next/g" pkg/version/version.go && \
+	sed -i "s/flagger:$$current/flagger:$$next/g" artifacts/flagger/deployment.yaml && \
+	sed -i "s/tag: $$current/tag: $$next/g" charts/flagger/values.yaml && \
+	sed -i "s/appVersion: $$current/appVersion: $$next/g" charts/flagger/Chart.yaml && \
+	sed -i "s/version: $$current/version: $$next/g" charts/flagger/Chart.yaml && \
+	sed -i "s/newTag: $$current/newTag: $$next/g" kustomize/base/flagger/kustomization.yaml && \
 	echo "Version $$next set in code, deployment, chart and kustomize"
 
 release:
diff --git a/artifacts/flagger/deployment.yaml b/artifacts/flagger/deployment.yaml
index 35b2096d..e3829452 100644
--- a/artifacts/flagger/deployment.yaml
+++ b/artifacts/flagger/deployment.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ spec:
       serviceAccountName: flagger
       containers:
       - name: flagger
-        image: ghcr.io/fluxcd/flagger:1.16.0
+        image: ghcr.io/fluxcd/flagger:1.16.1
         imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
         ports:
         - name: http
diff --git a/charts/flagger/Chart.yaml b/charts/flagger/Chart.yaml
index 01129843..0bdeccb2 100644
--- a/charts/flagger/Chart.yaml
+++ b/charts/flagger/Chart.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 apiVersion: v1
 name: flagger
-version: 1.16.0
-appVersion: 1.16.0
+version: 1.16.1
+appVersion: 1.16.1
 kubeVersion: ">=1.16.0-0"
 engine: gotpl
 description: Flagger is a progressive delivery operator for Kubernetes
diff --git a/charts/flagger/values.yaml b/charts/flagger/values.yaml
index fac2c600..e5e4c70e 100644
--- a/charts/flagger/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/flagger/values.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 image:
   repository: ghcr.io/fluxcd/flagger
-  tag: 1.16.0
+  tag: 1.16.1
   pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
   pullSecret:
 
diff --git a/kustomize/base/flagger/kustomization.yaml b/kustomize/base/flagger/kustomization.yaml
index 38abe16c..d0c5b432 100644
--- a/kustomize/base/flagger/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/kustomize/base/flagger/kustomization.yaml
@@ -9,4 +9,4 @@ resources:
 images:
   - name: ghcr.io/fluxcd/flagger
     newName: ghcr.io/fluxcd/flagger
-    newTag: 1.16.0
+    newTag: 1.16.1
diff --git a/pkg/version/version.go b/pkg/version/version.go
index 81cccb41..cfac2b29 100644
--- a/pkg/version/version.go
+++ b/pkg/version/version.go
@@ -16,5 +16,5 @@ limitations under the License.
 
 package version
 
-var VERSION = "1.16.0"
+var VERSION = "1.16.1"
 var REVISION = "unknown"