diff --git a/hivemind/__init__.py b/hivemind/__init__.py
index 3fdfc625b..b55d83eeb 100644
--- a/hivemind/__init__.py
+++ b/hivemind/__init__.py
@@ -5,4 +5,4 @@
 from hivemind.utils import *
 from hivemind.optim import *
 
-__version__ = '0.9.8'
+__version__ = '0.9.9'
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 9ce07c9eb..ac2f1ee71 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -14,3 +14,4 @@ multiaddr>=0.0.9
 pymultihash>=0.8.2
 cryptography>=3.4.6
 pydantic>=1.8.1
+packaging>=20.9