diff --git a/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json b/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
index 567ad5a4..30ea5c9e 100644
--- a/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
+++ b/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
       "name": "beads",
       "source": "./",
       "description": "AI-supervised issue tracker for coding workflows",
-      "version": "0.9.7"
+      "version": "0.9.8"
     }
   ]
 }
diff --git a/.claude-plugin/plugin.json b/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
index 478046fc..11ea4703 100644
--- a/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
+++ b/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "beads",
   "description": "AI-supervised issue tracker for coding workflows. Manage tasks, discover work, and maintain context with simple CLI commands.",
-  "version": "0.9.7",
+  "version": "0.9.8",
   "author": {
     "name": "Steve Yegge",
     "url": "https://github.com/steveyegge"
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 79d5aa9c..c2aa6f46 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -63,6 +63,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - **Bug**: Collision resolver missing ID counter sync (bd-331)
   - After remapping, ID counters weren't updated
   - Could cause duplicate IDs in subsequent creates
+- **Bug**: NULL handling in statistics for empty databases (PR #37)
+  - `bd stats` would crash on newly initialized databases
+  - Fixed NULL value handling in GetStatistics
 
 ### Changed
 - Compaction removes snapshot/restore (simplified to permanent decay)
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 52e87819..b7e47391 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1141,7 +1141,7 @@ See [examples/](examples/) for scripting patterns. Contributions welcome!
 
 ### Is this production-ready?
 
-**Current status: Alpha (v0.9.7)**
+**Current status: Alpha (v0.9.8)**
 
 bd is in active development and being dogfooded on real projects. The core functionality (create, update, dependencies, ready work, collision resolution) is stable and well-tested. However:
 
diff --git a/cmd/bd/version.go b/cmd/bd/version.go
index 142c87c8..d3c68826 100644
--- a/cmd/bd/version.go
+++ b/cmd/bd/version.go
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	// Version is the current version of bd
-	Version = "0.9.7"
+	Version = "0.9.8"
 	// Build can be set via ldflags at compile time
 	Build = "dev"
 )
diff --git a/integrations/beads-mcp/pyproject.toml b/integrations/beads-mcp/pyproject.toml
index 3ade546d..f3ad23e6 100644
--- a/integrations/beads-mcp/pyproject.toml
+++ b/integrations/beads-mcp/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "beads-mcp"
-version = "0.9.7"
+version = "0.9.8"
 description = "MCP server for beads issue tracker."
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.11"
diff --git a/integrations/beads-mcp/src/beads_mcp/__init__.py b/integrations/beads-mcp/src/beads_mcp/__init__.py
index c2b08b23..fc00e6e2 100644
--- a/integrations/beads-mcp/src/beads_mcp/__init__.py
+++ b/integrations/beads-mcp/src/beads_mcp/__init__.py
@@ -4,4 +4,4 @@ This package provides an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that exposes
 beads (bd) issue tracker functionality to MCP Clients.
 """
 
-__version__ = "0.9.7"
+__version__ = "0.9.8"