diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index b4467fe73d..3a13c6b805 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-4.1-beta2
+4.1-rc1
+ * Avoid schema mismatch problems on memtable API misconfiguration (CASSANDRA-18040)
  * Start Paxos auto repair in CassandraDaemon (CASSANDRA-18029)
  * Restore streaming_keep_alive_period on the netty control streaming channel (CASSANDRA-17768)
  * Move Schema.FORCE_LOAD_KEYSPACES and Schema.FORCE_LOAD_KEYSPACES_PROP to CassandraRelevantProps (CASSANDRA-17783)
diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index fe216b2769..1de773550c 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
     <property name="debuglevel" value="source,lines,vars"/>
 
     <!-- default version and SCM information -->
-    <property name="base.version" value="4.1-beta2"/>
+    <property name="base.version" value="4.1-rc1"/>
     <property name="scm.connection" value="scm:https://gitbox.apache.org/repos/asf/cassandra.git"/>
     <property name="scm.developerConnection" value="scm:https://gitbox.apache.org/repos/asf/cassandra.git"/>
     <property name="scm.url" value="https://gitbox.apache.org/repos/asf?p=cassandra.git;a=tree"/>
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index b5597a14d9..7b52c9e4d8 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-cassandra (4.1~beta2) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
+cassandra (4.1~rc1) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
 
   * New release