diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d5821762db..2ec31079c9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [2.8.1](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/compare/v2.8.0...v2.8.1) (2022-06-27)
+
+
+### Dependencies
+
+* update dependency com.google.protobuf:protobuf-bom to v3.21.2 ([#851](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/issues/851)) ([c0f09f0](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/commit/c0f09f0fcd57a2d90e0a99b17c9e346df8651d65))
+
 ## [2.8.0](https://github.com/googleapis/java-core/compare/v2.7.1...v2.8.0) (2022-06-21)
 
 
diff --git a/google-cloud-core-bom/pom.xml b/google-cloud-core-bom/pom.xml
index 433d2cd7d0..36a0095c36 100644
--- a/google-cloud-core-bom/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-core-bom/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-core-bom</artifactId>
-  <version>2.8.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+  <version>2.8.1</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
@@ -63,17 +63,17 @@
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-core</artifactId>
-        <version>2.8.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+        <version>2.8.1</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-core-grpc</artifactId>
-        <version>2.8.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+        <version>2.8.1</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-core-http</artifactId>
-        <version>2.8.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+        <version>2.8.1</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
       </dependency>
     </dependencies>
   </dependencyManagement>
diff --git a/google-cloud-core-grpc/pom.xml b/google-cloud-core-grpc/pom.xml
index 3450ad4730..508d885765 100644
--- a/google-cloud-core-grpc/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-core-grpc/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-core-grpc</artifactId>
-  <version>2.8.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+  <version>2.8.1</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
   <name>Google Cloud Core gRPC</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-core</url>
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-core-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>2.8.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+    <version>2.8.1</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   </parent>
   <properties>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-core-grpc</site.installationModule>
diff --git a/google-cloud-core-http/pom.xml b/google-cloud-core-http/pom.xml
index 68a5409cd5..b37444f9bb 100644
--- a/google-cloud-core-http/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-core-http/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-core-http</artifactId>
-  <version>2.8.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+  <version>2.8.1</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
   <name>Google Cloud Core HTTP</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-core</url>
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-core-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>2.8.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+    <version>2.8.1</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   </parent>
   <properties>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-core-http</site.installationModule>
diff --git a/google-cloud-core/pom.xml b/google-cloud-core/pom.xml
index 188701967c..4449270d2c 100644
--- a/google-cloud-core/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-core/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-core</artifactId>
-  <version>2.8.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+  <version>2.8.1</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
   <name>Google Cloud Core</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-core</url>
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-core-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>2.8.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+    <version>2.8.1</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   </parent>
   <properties>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-core</site.installationModule>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index c44501cb3b..37237e4836 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-core-parent</artifactId>
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
-  <version>2.8.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
+  <version>2.8.1</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-core:current} -->
   <name>Google Cloud Core Parent</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-core</url>
   <description>
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@
     <google.api.version>1.35.1</google.api.version>
     <google.http.version>1.42.0</google.http.version>
     <grpc.version>1.47.0</grpc.version>
-    <protobuf.version>3.21.1</protobuf.version>
+    <protobuf.version>3.21.2</protobuf.version>
     <opencensus.version>0.31.1</opencensus.version>
     <annotations-api.version>1.3.2</annotations-api.version>
     <guava.version>31.1-jre</guava.version>
diff --git a/versions.txt b/versions.txt
index 197540b9cb..0a7a4f1b82 100644
--- a/versions.txt
+++ b/versions.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # Format:
 # module:released-version:current-version
 
-google-cloud-core:2.8.0:2.8.0
+google-cloud-core:2.8.1:2.8.1