diff --git a/version.go b/version.go
index 2762442eeab167463125e0208bd3e936fc809509..2ded5ffbf44e09cdc3110dbda0cc8a73216b7793 100644
--- a/version.go
+++ b/version.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import (
 var CurrentCommit string
 
 // CurrentVersionNumber is the current application's version literal
-const CurrentVersionNumber = "0.18.0-dev"
+const CurrentVersionNumber = "v0.18.0-rc1"
 
 const ApiVersion = "/kubo/" + CurrentVersionNumber + "/" //nolint