diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 506929e27..12abd6cfc 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+Changes in synapse v0.18.1 (2016-10-0)
+======================================
+
+No changes since v0.18.1-rc1
+
+
 Changes in synapse v0.18.1-rc1 (2016-09-30)
 ===========================================
 
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index 0f706d265..6dbe8fc7e 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@
 """ This is a reference implementation of a Matrix home server.
 """
 
-__version__ = "0.18.1-rc1"
+__version__ = "0.18.1"