diff --git a/.bumpversion.cfg b/.bumpversion.cfg
index a76d5b66d7..007a8ec0f5 100644
--- a/.bumpversion.cfg
+++ b/.bumpversion.cfg
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [bumpversion]
-current_version = 69.3.0
+current_version = 69.4.0
 commit = True
 tag = True
 
diff --git a/NEWS.rst b/NEWS.rst
index 7822ec6325..0fcbdfc9a6 100644
--- a/NEWS.rst
+++ b/NEWS.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+v69.4.0
+=======
+
+Features
+--------
+
+- Merged with pypa/distutils@55982565e, including interoperability improvements for rfc822_escape (pypa/distutils#213), dynamic resolution of config_h_filename for Python 3.13 compatibility (pypa/distutils#219), added support for the z/OS compiler (pypa/distutils#216), modernized compiler options in unixcompiler (pypa/distutils#214), fixed accumulating flags bug after compile/link (pypa/distutils#207), fixed enconding warnings (pypa/distutils#236), and general quality improvements (pypa/distutils#234). (#4298)
+
+
 v69.3.0
 =======
 
diff --git a/newsfragments/4298.feature.rst b/newsfragments/4298.feature.rst
deleted file mode 100644
index 21d680d486..0000000000
--- a/newsfragments/4298.feature.rst
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Merged with pypa/distutils@55982565e, including interoperability improvements for rfc822_escape (pypa/distutils#213), dynamic resolution of config_h_filename for Python 3.13 compatibility (pypa/distutils#219), added support for the z/OS compiler (pypa/distutils#216), modernized compiler options in unixcompiler (pypa/distutils#214), fixed accumulating flags bug after compile/link (pypa/distutils#207), fixed enconding warnings (pypa/distutils#236), and general quality improvements (pypa/distutils#234).
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index bab3efa52c..02078f7466 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [metadata]
 name = setuptools
-version = 69.3.0
+version = 69.4.0
 author = Python Packaging Authority
 author_email = distutils-sig@python.org
 description = Easily download, build, install, upgrade, and uninstall Python packages