diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 59b7f83a3..3db747df3 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
-Changes in synapse v0.18.7 (2017-01-06)
-=======================================
+Changes in synapse v0.18.7-rc1 (2017-01-06)
+===========================================
 
 Bug fixes:
 
 * Fix error in #PR 1764 to actually fix the nightmare #1753 bug.
+* Improve deadlock logging further
 
 Changes in synapse v0.18.6 (2017-01-06)
 =======================================
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index 498ded38c..91e3a2c2e 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@
 """ This is a reference implementation of a Matrix home server.
 """
 
-__version__ = "0.18.7"
+__version__ = "0.18.7-rc1"