diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1da06219202be7f1276744539e98f67a053282d5..ab7b31d8e457601841ab7ef5292b2a058b2fa50c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+# [3.9.0](https://gitlab.com/to-be-continuous/semantic-release/compare/3.8.3...3.9.0) (2024-05-10)
+
+
+### Features
+
+* add SEMREL_REF to run semantic-release on a wider number of branches alongside info-on 'semrel' to use this variable ([74288af](https://gitlab.com/to-be-continuous/semantic-release/commit/74288afbe3fb22ec8c973b228755243b012f998a))
+
 ## [3.8.3](https://gitlab.com/to-be-continuous/semantic-release/compare/3.8.2...3.8.3) (2024-05-05)
 
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 46fea9ae10e55db139cff5470266e37be43fd0ef..3babc92ac739252b94f05a2190e65b824096c07e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ Add the following to your `gitlab-ci.yml`:
 ```yaml
 include:
   # 1: include the component
-  - component: gitlab.com/to-be-continuous/semantic-release/gitlab-ci-semrel@3.8.3
+  - component: gitlab.com/to-be-continuous/semantic-release/gitlab-ci-semrel@3.9.0
     # 2: set/override component inputs
     inputs:
       changelog-enabled: true # ⚠ this is only an example
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ Add the following to your `gitlab-ci.yml`:
 include:
   # 1: include the template
   - project: 'to-be-continuous/semantic-release'
-    ref: '3.8.3'
+    ref: '3.9.0'
     file: '/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel.yml'
 
 variables:
@@ -240,9 +240,9 @@ With:
 ```yaml
 include:
   # main template
-  - component: gitlab.com/to-be-continuous/semantic-release/gitlab-ci-semrel@3.8.3
+  - component: gitlab.com/to-be-continuous/semantic-release/gitlab-ci-semrel@3.9.0
   # Vault variant
-  - component: gitlab.com/to-be-continuous/semantic-release/gitlab-ci-semrel-vault@3.8.3
+  - component: gitlab.com/to-be-continuous/semantic-release/gitlab-ci-semrel-vault@3.9.0
     inputs:
       vault-base-url: "https://vault.acme.host/v1"
       # audience claim for JWT
diff --git a/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel-vault.yml b/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel-vault.yml
index a94c90c532cd44ca8801a03229fc31b86ae8f9a3..a31fa29900dd912b9b7a3aed105ba085e65d63ea 100644
--- a/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel-vault.yml
+++ b/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel-vault.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ variables:
 .semrel-base:
   services:
     - name: "$TBC_TRACKING_IMAGE"
-      command: ["--service", "semrel", "3.8.3"]
+      command: ["--service", "semrel", "3.9.0"]
     - name: "$TBC_VAULT_IMAGE"
       alias: "vault-secrets-provider"
   variables:
diff --git a/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel.yml b/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel.yml
index 2e235cc802b2553168def1adea42c83687e646ab..7cbb0e81c89f18bdbd1d7fe6564ddd6f73311d2e 100644
--- a/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel.yml
+++ b/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel.yml
@@ -683,7 +683,7 @@ stages:
   image: $SEMREL_IMAGE
   services:
     - name: "$TBC_TRACKING_IMAGE"
-      command: ["--service", "semrel", "3.8.3"]
+      command: ["--service", "semrel", "3.9.0"]
   before_script:
     - !reference [.semrel-scripts]
     - install_ca_certs "${CUSTOM_CA_CERTS:-$DEFAULT_CA_CERTS}"