diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 207f1e4d74..6779a36f72 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+Changes in synapse 0.5.3 (2014-11-27)
+=====================================
+
+ * Fix bug that caused joining a remote room to fail if a single event was not
+   signed correctly.
+ * Fix bug which caused servers to continuously try and fetch events from other
+   servers.
+
 Changes in synapse 0.5.2 (2014-11-26)
 =====================================
 
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index cb0c939a93..be14282b7f 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.5.2
+0.5.3
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index d5c2f25484..c99cd96537 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@
 """ This is a reference implementation of a synapse home server.
 """
 
-__version__ = "0.5.2"
+__version__ = "0.5.3"