diff --git a/.mergify.yml b/.mergify.yml
index b6f2ee940fc..c94503ba151 100644
--- a/.mergify.yml
+++ b/.mergify.yml
@@ -389,3 +389,17 @@ pull_request_rules:
         labels:
           - "backport"
         title: "[{{ destination_branch }}] {{ title }} (backport #{{ number }})"
+  - name: backport patches to 8.16 branch
+    conditions:
+      - merged
+      - base=main
+      - label=backport-8.16
+    actions:
+      backport:
+        assignees:
+          - "{{ author }}"
+        branches:
+          - "8.16"
+        labels:
+          - "backport"
+        title: "[{{ destination_branch }}] {{ title }} (backport #{{ number }})"
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.asciidoc b/CHANGELOG.asciidoc
index dffd289c9bc..f31ddeb5dc8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.asciidoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.asciidoc
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 // tag::list[]
+* <<apm-release-notes-8.16>>
 * <<apm-release-notes-8.15>>
 * <<apm-release-notes-8.14>>
 * <<apm-release-notes-8.13>>
@@ -19,6 +20,7 @@
 
 // tag::includes[]
 include::./changelogs/head.asciidoc[]
+include::./changelogs/8.16.asciidoc[]
 include::./changelogs/8.15.asciidoc[]
 include::./changelogs/8.14.asciidoc[]
 include::./changelogs/8.13.asciidoc[]
diff --git a/changelogs/8.15.asciidoc b/changelogs/8.15.asciidoc
index 2623162ef76..bd0d480cbbc 100644
--- a/changelogs/8.15.asciidoc
+++ b/changelogs/8.15.asciidoc
@@ -1,20 +1,20 @@
 [[apm-release-notes-8.15]]
 == APM version 8.15
 
+* <<apm-release-notes-8.15.3>>
 * <<apm-release-notes-8.15.2>>
 * <<apm-release-notes-8.15.1>>
 * <<apm-release-notes-8.15.0>>
 
 [float]
-[[apm-release-notes-8.15.2]]
-=== APM version 8.15.2
+[[apm-release-notes-8.15.3]]
+=== APM version 8.15.3
 
-https://github.com/elastic/apm-server/compare/v8.15.1\...v8.15.2[View commits]
+https://github.com/elastic/apm-server/compare/v8.15.2\...v8.15.3[View commits]
 
 [float]
 ==== Bug fixes
 
-- Fix broken APM Agents configuration cache when there are more than 100 agent config entries {pull}13958[13958]
 - Fix a panic in OTLP label setting when receiving on non-compliant attribute array values {pull}13950[13950]
 
 [float]
@@ -22,6 +22,17 @@ https://github.com/elastic/apm-server/compare/v8.15.1\...v8.15.2[View commits]
 
 - Map OpenTelemetry instrumentation scope to `Service.Framework.*` for all signal types. {pull}13903[13903]
 
+[float]
+[[apm-release-notes-8.15.2]]
+=== APM version 8.15.2
+
+https://github.com/elastic/apm-server/compare/v8.15.1\...v8.15.2[View commits]
+
+[float]
+==== Bug fixes
+
+- Fix broken APM Agents configuration cache when there are more than 100 agent config entries {pull}13958[13958]
+
 [float]
 [[apm-release-notes-8.15.1]]
 === APM version 8.15.1
diff --git a/changelogs/8.16.asciidoc b/changelogs/8.16.asciidoc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..96e1a0a0cfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/8.16.asciidoc
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+[[apm-release-notes-8.16]]
+== APM version 8.16
+* <<apm-release-notes-8.16.0>>
+
+[float]
+[[apm-release-notes-8.16.0]]
+=== APM version 8.16.0
+
+https://github.com/elastic/apm-server/compare/v8.15.2\...v8.16.0[View commits]
+
+[float]
+==== Bug fixes
+
+- Track all bulk request response status codes {pull}13574[13574]
+- Fix a concurrent map write panic in monitoring middleware {pull}14335[14335]
+- Apply shutdown timeout to http server {pull}14339[14339]
+- Tail-based sampling: Fix rare gc thread failure after EA hot reload causing storage not reclaimed and stuck with "storage limit reached" {pull}13574[13574]
+
+[float]
+==== Breaking Changes
+
+[float]
+==== Deprecations
+- Support for Jaeger is now deprecated, and will be removed in a future release {pull}13809[13809]
+
+[float]
+==== Intake API Changes
+
+[float]
+==== Added
+
+- APM Server will no longer retry an HTTP request that returned 502s, 503s, 504s. It will only retry 429s. {pull}13523[13523]
diff --git a/changelogs/head.asciidoc b/changelogs/head.asciidoc
index 4aa7fee901c..4b71ea29c89 100644
--- a/changelogs/head.asciidoc
+++ b/changelogs/head.asciidoc
@@ -1,27 +1,16 @@
 [[release-notes-head]]
 == APM version HEAD
 
-https://github.com/elastic/apm-server/compare/8.15\...main[View commits]
-
-[float]
-==== Bug fixes
-
-- Track all bulk request response status codes {pull}13574[13574]
-- Fix a concurrent map write panic in monitoring middleware {pull}14335[14335]
-- Apply shutdown timeout to http server {pull}14339[14339]
-- Tail-based sampling: Fix rare gc thread failure after EA hot reload causing storage not reclaimed and stuck with "storage limit reached" {pull}13574[13574]
+https://github.com/elastic/apm-server/compare/8.16\...8.x[View commits]
 
 [float]
 ==== Breaking Changes
 
 [float]
 ==== Deprecations
-- Support for Jaeger is now deprecated, and will be removed in a future release {pull}13809[13809]
 
 [float]
 ==== Intake API Changes
 
 [float]
 ==== Added
-
-- APM Server will no longer retry an HTTP request that returned 502s, 503s, 504s. It will only retry 429s. {pull}13523[13523]