diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index deb03c5c..9443ee99 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 {
-  "pkgs/sdk/server": "8.4.0",
+  "pkgs/sdk/server": "8.5.0",
   "pkgs/telemetry": "1.0.0"
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/sdk/server/CHANGELOG.md b/pkgs/sdk/server/CHANGELOG.md
index 71c98044..dc46d443 100644
--- a/pkgs/sdk/server/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/pkgs/sdk/server/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [8.5.0](https://github.com/launchdarkly/dotnet-server-sdk/compare/8.4.0...8.5.0) (2024-05-10)
+
+
+### Features
+
+* adds warning log if excessive StartWaitTime is used. ([#218](https://github.com/launchdarkly/dotnet-server-sdk/issues/218)) ([6f6cdec](https://github.com/launchdarkly/dotnet-server-sdk/commit/6f6cdec155fd46bcfc17ce18246e760c456adbaf))
+
 ## [8.4.0](https://github.com/launchdarkly/dotnet-server-sdk/compare/8.3.0...8.4.0) (2024-04-23)
 
 
diff --git a/pkgs/sdk/server/src/LaunchDarkly.ServerSdk.csproj b/pkgs/sdk/server/src/LaunchDarkly.ServerSdk.csproj
index cd50a4ff..270401b7 100644
--- a/pkgs/sdk/server/src/LaunchDarkly.ServerSdk.csproj
+++ b/pkgs/sdk/server/src/LaunchDarkly.ServerSdk.csproj
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
   <PropertyGroup>
     <!--x-release-please-start-version-->
-    <Version>8.4.0</Version>
+    <Version>8.5.0</Version>
     <!--x-release-please-end-->
     <!-- The BUILDFRAMEWORKS variable allows us to override the target frameworks with a
          single framework that we are testing; this allows us to test with older SDK