diff --git a/Changelog.md b/Changelog.md
index 38ae7d2af8..3f02f31a21 100644
--- a/Changelog.md
+++ b/Changelog.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-### 2.7.0 (not yet released)
+### 2.7.0.rc1 / 2011-10-09
 
-[full changelog](http://github.com/rspec/rspec-core/compare/v2.6.4...master)
+[full changelog](http://github.com/rspec/rspec-core/compare/v2.6.4...v2.7.0.rc1)
 
 NOTE: RSpec's release policy dictates that there should not be any backward
 incompatible changes in minor releases, but we're making an exception to
diff --git a/lib/rspec/core/version.rb b/lib/rspec/core/version.rb
index 142021cde3..cd49e26060 100644
--- a/lib/rspec/core/version.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec/core/version.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 module RSpec # :nodoc:
   module Core # :nodoc:
     module Version # :nodoc:
-      STRING = '2.6.4'
+      STRING = '2.7.0.rc1'
     end
   end
 end