diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index 258342d..d9d5699 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  ".": "0.5.2"
+  ".": "0.5.3"
 }
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 449d1c6..4b13399 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [0.5.3](https://github.com/groq/k8s-wif-webhook/compare/v0.5.2...v0.5.3) (2025-07-08)
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* the real treasure was the defaults we had along the way ([#5](https://github.com/groq/k8s-wif-webhook/issues/5)) ([7322a03](https://github.com/groq/k8s-wif-webhook/commit/7322a03a4521b88b495eb993e2019a35776c8664))
+
 ## [0.5.2](https://github.com/groq/k8s-wif-webhook/compare/v0.5.1...v0.5.2) (2025-07-08)
 
 
diff --git a/internal/version/version.go b/internal/version/version.go
index fa5c7f4..7aa859b 100644
--- a/internal/version/version.go
+++ b/internal/version/version.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 package version
 
 // Version is the current tagged release of the webhook.
-const Version = "0.5.2" // x-release-please-version
+const Version = "0.5.3" // x-release-please-version