diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index a3df0a6..6f4eebd 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.8.0
+0.8.1
diff --git a/src/boardwalkd/server.py b/src/boardwalkd/server.py
index 3075cb3..688e415 100644
--- a/src/boardwalkd/server.py
+++ b/src/boardwalkd/server.py
@@ -943,6 +943,8 @@ async def run(
     url: str,
 ):
     """Starts the tornado server and IO loop"""
+    global state
+
     app = make_app(
         auth_expire_days=auth_expire_days,
         auth_method=auth_method,