diff --git a/.semaphore/semaphore.yml b/.semaphore/semaphore.yml
index af2f3485f..8af323af4 100644
--- a/.semaphore/semaphore.yml
+++ b/.semaphore/semaphore.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ agent:
 global_job_config:
   env_vars:
     - name: LIBRDKAFKA_VERSION
-      value: v2.1.1
+      value: v2.2.0-RC2
   prologue:
     commands:
       - checkout
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 07d9e3e7b..a72217135 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 # built documents.
 #
 # The short X.Y version.
-version = '2.1.1'
+version = '2.2.0'
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
 release = version
 ######################################################################
diff --git a/examples/docker/Dockerfile.alpine b/examples/docker/Dockerfile.alpine
index 3a6a0b07a..29e96f73d 100644
--- a/examples/docker/Dockerfile.alpine
+++ b/examples/docker/Dockerfile.alpine
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ FROM alpine:3.12
 
 COPY . /usr/src/confluent-kafka-python
 
-ENV LIBRDKAFKA_VERSION v2.1.1
+ENV LIBRDKAFKA_VERSION v2.2.0-RC2
 ENV KAFKACAT_VERSION master
 
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index c1f1293ce..8ed69cfbc 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ def get_install_requirements(path):
 setup(name='confluent-kafka',
       # Make sure to bump CFL_VERSION* in confluent_kafka/src/confluent_kafka.h
       # and version in docs/conf.py.
-      version='2.1.1',
+      version='2.2.0rc2',
       description='Confluent\'s Python client for Apache Kafka',
       author='Confluent Inc',
       author_email='support@confluent.io',
diff --git a/src/confluent_kafka/src/confluent_kafka.h b/src/confluent_kafka/src/confluent_kafka.h
index 35e7cc75c..668e51cfe 100644
--- a/src/confluent_kafka/src/confluent_kafka.h
+++ b/src/confluent_kafka/src/confluent_kafka.h
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@
  *  0xMMmmRRPP
  *  MM=major, mm=minor, RR=revision, PP=patchlevel (not used)
  */
-#define CFL_VERSION     0x02010100
-#define CFL_VERSION_STR "2.1.1"
+#define CFL_VERSION     0x02020000
+#define CFL_VERSION_STR "2.2.0rc2"
 
 /**
  * Minimum required librdkafka version. This is checked both during
@@ -51,19 +51,19 @@
  * Make sure to keep the MIN_RD_KAFKA_VERSION, MIN_VER_ERRSTR and #error
  * defines and strings in sync.
  */
-#define MIN_RD_KAFKA_VERSION 0x020100ff
+#define MIN_RD_KAFKA_VERSION 0x020200ff
 
 #ifdef __APPLE__
-#define MIN_VER_ERRSTR "confluent-kafka-python requires librdkafka v2.1.0 or later. Install the latest version of librdkafka from Homebrew by running `brew install librdkafka` or `brew upgrade librdkafka`"
+#define MIN_VER_ERRSTR "confluent-kafka-python requires librdkafka v2.2.0 or later. Install the latest version of librdkafka from Homebrew by running `brew install librdkafka` or `brew upgrade librdkafka`"
 #else
-#define MIN_VER_ERRSTR "confluent-kafka-python requires librdkafka v2.1.0 or later. Install the latest version of librdkafka from the Confluent repositories, see http://docs.confluent.io/current/installation.html"
+#define MIN_VER_ERRSTR "confluent-kafka-python requires librdkafka v2.2.0 or later. Install the latest version of librdkafka from the Confluent repositories, see http://docs.confluent.io/current/installation.html"
 #endif
 
 #if RD_KAFKA_VERSION < MIN_RD_KAFKA_VERSION
 #ifdef __APPLE__
-#error "confluent-kafka-python requires librdkafka v2.1.0 or later. Install the latest version of librdkafka from Homebrew by running `brew install librdkafka` or `brew upgrade librdkafka`"
+#error "confluent-kafka-python requires librdkafka v2.2.0 or later. Install the latest version of librdkafka from Homebrew by running `brew install librdkafka` or `brew upgrade librdkafka`"
 #else
-#error "confluent-kafka-python requires librdkafka v2.1.0 or later. Install the latest version of librdkafka from the Confluent repositories, see http://docs.confluent.io/current/installation.html"
+#error "confluent-kafka-python requires librdkafka v2.2.0 or later. Install the latest version of librdkafka from the Confluent repositories, see http://docs.confluent.io/current/installation.html"
 #endif
 #endif