diff --git a/scripts/api-version-bump.sh b/scripts/api-version-bump.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..0de5b3ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/api-version-bump.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+#! /bin/bash
+
+if ! test -f configure.ac; then
+    >&2 echo "$(basename $0): script must be called from the package's top directory"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+declare $(sed -ne '/^LIBCOAP_API_VERSION=[0-9]\+/{p; q}' configure.ac)
+NEW_VERSION=${1:-$((LIBCOAP_API_VERSION + 1))}
+
+echo $(basename $0): increase version $LIBCOAP_API_VERSION to $NEW_VERSION
+
+# command for move operations on version-controlled files and directories
+MV="git mv"
+move() {
+    source=$1
+    dest=$2
+    test -e "$1" && $MV "$1" "$2"
+}
+
+move include/coap$LIBCOAP_API_VERSION include/coap$NEW_VERSION
+move libcoap-$LIBCOAP_API_VERSION.pc.in libcoap-$NEW_VERSION.pc.in
+move libcoap-$LIBCOAP_API_VERSION.map libcoap-$NEW_VERSION.map
+move libcoap-$LIBCOAP_API_VERSION.sym libcoap-$NEW_VERSION.sym
+
+# sed pattern for include path prefix substitution
+pat='^\(#include ["<]coap\)'$LIBCOAP_API_VERSION/
+
+find \( -name \*.h -o -name \*.c \) \
+     -exec grep -q '^#include ["<]coap'$LIBCOAP_API_VERSION/ {} \; -print | \
+    (while read fn ; do test -f ${fn}.in || sed -i "s,$pat,\1$NEW_VERSION/,"  $fn ; done )
+
+# Adjust LIBCOAP_API_VERSION in CMakeLists.txt
+sed -i "s/^\(set(LIBCOAP_API_VERSION \+\)$LIBCOAP_API_VERSION\( *)\)/\1$NEW_VERSION\2/" CMakeLists.txt
+
+# Adjust LibCoAPIncludeDir in win32/libcoap.props
+sed -i "s/\(<LibCoAPIncludeDir>include\\\coap\)$LIBCOAP_API_VERSION/\1$NEW_VERSION/" win32/libcoap.props
+
+# Finally, increase LIBCOAP_API_VERSION in configure.ac
+sed -i "s/^\(LIBCOAP_API_VERSION=\)$LIBCOAP_API_VERSION/\1$NEW_VERSION/" configure.ac