diff --git a/docs/changelog.asciidoc b/docs/changelog.asciidoc
index 0f45de6c6..684829494 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/changelog.asciidoc
@@ -1,6 +1,17 @@
 [[changelog-client]]
 == Release notes
 
+[discrete]
+=== 8.16.1
+
+[discrete]
+==== Fixes
+
+[discrete]
+===== Fix ECMAScript imports
+
+Fixed package configuration to correctly support native ECMAScript `import` syntax.
+
 [discrete]
 === 8.16.0
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 45bcd208b..7089908da 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "@elastic/elasticsearch",
-  "version": "8.16.0",
-  "versionCanary": "8.16.0-canary.0",
+  "version": "8.16.1",
+  "versionCanary": "8.16.1-canary.0",
   "description": "The official Elasticsearch client for Node.js",
   "main": "./index.js",
   "types": "index.d.ts",