diff --git a/BasicPrelude.hs b/BasicPrelude.hs
--- a/BasicPrelude.hs
+++ b/BasicPrelude.hs
@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@
 -- | > empty = mempty
 empty :: Monoid w => w
 empty = mempty
+{-# DEPRECATED empty "Use mempty" #-}
 
 infixr 5 ++
 
@@ -197,7 +198,7 @@
 
 -- | The readIO function is similar to read
 -- except that it signals parse failure to the IO monad
--- instead of terminating the program. 
+-- instead of terminating the program.
 readIO :: Read a => Text -> IO a
 readIO = Prelude.readIO . Text.unpack
 
diff --git a/ChangeLog.md b/ChangeLog.md
--- a/ChangeLog.md
+++ b/ChangeLog.md
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+## 0.5.1
+
+* Expose `asum`
+* Deprecate `empty` (so it can be replaced with `Alternative`'s `empty`)
+
 ## 0.5.0
 
 * Expose more Foldable/Traversable stuff
diff --git a/CorePrelude.hs b/CorePrelude.hs
--- a/CorePrelude.hs
+++ b/CorePrelude.hs
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@
     , (<>)
       -- ** Folds and traversals
     , Data.Foldable.Foldable
+    , Data.Foldable.asum
     , Data.Traversable.Traversable
       -- ** arrow
     , Control.Arrow.first
diff --git a/basic-prelude.cabal b/basic-prelude.cabal
--- a/basic-prelude.cabal
+++ b/basic-prelude.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:                basic-prelude
-version:             0.5.0
+version:             0.5.1
 synopsis:            An enhanced core prelude; a common foundation for alternate preludes.
 description:
     The premise of @basic-prelude@ is that there are a lot of very commonly desired features missing from the standard @Prelude@, such as commonly used operators (@\<$\>@ and @>=>@, for instance) and imports for common datatypes (e.g., @ByteString@ and @Vector@). At the same time, there are lots of other components which are more debatable, such as providing polymorphic versions of common functions.
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 
 library
   exposed-modules:     BasicPrelude, CorePrelude
-  build-depends:       base                     >= 4       && < 5
+  build-depends:       base                     >= 4.6     && < 5
                      , hashable
                      , bytestring
                      , text