diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6feab404d2..e07cc91229 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,51 @@
+#### v2.8.10 (2023-03-27)
+
+##### Chores
+
+*  up composer-default (e9a8e195)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.8.9 (57f14e41)
+*  update changelog for v2.8.9 (18b2150e)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.8.8 (b331b942)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.8.7 (3f8248d6)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.8.6 (af6ce447)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.8.5 (bff5ce2d)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.8.4 (a46b2bbc)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.8.3 (c20b20a7)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.8.2 (050e43f8)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.8.1 (727f879e)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.8.0 (8e77673d)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.7.0 (96cc0617)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.6.1 (7e52a7a5)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.6.0 (e7fcf482)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.5.8 (dec0e7de)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.5.7 (5836bf4a)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.5.6 (c7bd7dbf)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.5.5 (3509ed94)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.5.4 (e83260ca)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.5.3 (7e922936)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.5.2 (babcd17e)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.5.1 (ce3aa950)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.5.0 (01d276cb)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.4.5 (dd3e1a28)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.4.4 (d5525c87)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.4.3 (9c647c6c)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.4.2 (3aa7b855)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.4.1 (60cbd148)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.4.0 (4834cde3)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.3.1 (d2425942)
+*  incrementing version number - v2.3.0 (046ea120)
+
+##### Bug Fixes
+
+*  #11403, remove loader.js crash counter logic (830f142b)
+*  don't crash if event name is not a string (37b48b82)
+*  closes #11173, move cache clear code (c2961ad4)
+
+##### Other Changes
+
+*  fix arrow (1aff9cad)
+*  whitespace (894f392b)
+
 #### v2.8.9 (2023-03-19)
 
 ##### Chores
diff --git a/loader.js b/loader.js
index 1d86d3a37e..9a1f0cdbad 100644
--- a/loader.js
+++ b/loader.js
@@ -30,9 +30,7 @@ const output = logrotate({ file: outputLogFilePath, size: '1m', keep: 3, compres
 const silent = nconf.get('silent') === 'false' ? false : nconf.get('silent') !== false;
 let numProcs;
 const workers = [];
-const Loader = {
-	timesStarted: 0,
-};
+const Loader = {};
 const appPath = path.join(__dirname, 'app.js');
 
 Loader.init = function () {
@@ -57,21 +55,6 @@ Loader.displayStartupMessages = function () {
 
 Loader.addWorkerEvents = function (worker) {
 	worker.on('exit', (code, signal) => {
-		if (code !== 0) {
-			if (Loader.timesStarted < numProcs * 3) {
-				Loader.timesStarted += 1;
-				if (Loader.crashTimer) {
-					clearTimeout(Loader.crashTimer);
-				}
-				Loader.crashTimer = setTimeout(() => {
-					Loader.timesStarted = 0;
-				}, 10000);
-			} else {
-				console.log(`${numProcs * 3} restarts in 10 seconds, most likely an error on startup. Halting.`);
-				process.exit();
-			}
-		}
-
 		console.log(`[cluster] Child Process (${worker.pid}) has exited (code: ${code}, signal: ${signal})`);
 		if (!(worker.suicide || code === 0)) {
 			console.log('[cluster] Spinning up another process...');
diff --git a/src/socket.io/index.js b/src/socket.io/index.js
index dc69204473..a4a4327005 100644
--- a/src/socket.io/index.js
+++ b/src/socket.io/index.js
@@ -120,7 +120,12 @@ async function onMessage(socket, payload) {
 		return winston.warn('[socket.io] Empty method name');
 	}
 
-	const parts = eventName.toString().split('.');
+	if (typeof eventName !== 'string') {
+		const escapedName = validator.escape(String(eventName));
+		return callback({ message: `[[error:invalid-event, ${escapedName}]]` });
+	}
+
+	const parts = eventName.split('.');
 	const namespace = parts[0];
 	const methodToCall = parts.reduce((prev, cur) => {
 		if (prev !== null && prev[cur] && (!prev.hasOwnProperty || prev.hasOwnProperty(cur))) {
diff --git a/test/socket.io.js b/test/socket.io.js
index fae66f82bc..e95eb6527e 100644
--- a/test/socket.io.js
+++ b/test/socket.io.js
@@ -107,6 +107,15 @@ describe('socket.io', () => {
 		});
 	});
 
+	it('should return error for invalid eventName type', (done) => {
+		const eventName = ['topics.loadMoreTags'];
+		io.emit(eventName, (err) => {
+			const eventAsString = String(eventName);
+			assert.strictEqual(err.message, `[[error:invalid-event, ${eventAsString}]]`);
+			done();
+		});
+	});
+
 	it('should get installed themes', (done) => {
 		const themes = ['nodebb-theme-persona'];
 		io.emit('admin.themes.getInstalled', (err, data) => {