diff --git a/Documentation/RelNotes/2.39.0.txt b/Documentation/RelNotes/2.39.0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3d27b72efc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/RelNotes/2.39.0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+Git v2.39 Release Notes
+=======================
+
+Performance, Internal Implementation, Development Support etc.
+
+ * With a bit of header twiddling, use the native regexp library on
+   macOS instead of the compat/ one.
+
+ * Prepare for GNU [ef]grep that throw warning of their uses.
+
+ * Sources related to fuzz testing have been moved down to their own
+   directory.
+
+
+Fixes since v2.38
+-----------------
+
+ * The codepath that reads from the index v4 had unaligned memory
+   accesses, which has been corrected.
+   (merge 4a6ed30f96 vd/fix-unaligned-read-index-v4 later to maint).
+
+ * Other code cleanup, docfix, build fix, etc.
diff --git a/GIT-VERSION-GEN b/GIT-VERSION-GEN
index a3eb6eca7a..e3eaeb4926 100755
--- a/GIT-VERSION-GEN
+++ b/GIT-VERSION-GEN
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
 GVF=GIT-VERSION-FILE
-DEF_VER=v2.38.0
+DEF_VER=v2.38.GIT
 
 LF='
 '
diff --git a/RelNotes b/RelNotes
index d505db645b..758368388a 120000
--- a/RelNotes
+++ b/RelNotes
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Documentation/RelNotes/2.38.0.txt
\ No newline at end of file
+Documentation/RelNotes/2.39.0.txt
\ No newline at end of file