diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4b20d54..a12d8d0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+# 0.8.18 - 2024-01-21
+
+- Bug fix: fixed string variable fill values replaced by the string "nan".
+
 # 0.8.17 - 2023-07-05
 
 - New feature: support `copy_from_alt` list of alternative variable names to use if `name` variable
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ec7080b..5af61c4 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name="ncagg",
-    version="0.8.17",
+    version="0.8.18",
     description="Utility for aggregation of NetCDF data.",
     author="Stefan Codrescu",
     author_email="stefan.codrescu@noaa.gov",
@@ -27,5 +27,7 @@
         "License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License",
         "Operating System :: OS Independent",
     ],
-    project_urls={"Documentation": "http://ncagg.readthedocs.io/en/latest/",},
+    project_urls={
+        "Documentation": "http://ncagg.readthedocs.io/en/latest/",
+    },
 )