diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 77b65ebe0..dcf9adc95 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+Changes in synapse v0.26.0 (2018-01-05)
+=======================================
+
+No changes since v0.26.0-rc1
+
+
 Changes in synapse v0.26.0-rc1 (2017-12-13)
 ===========================================
 
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index fb2a88a3f..ef8853bd2 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@
 """ This is a reference implementation of a Matrix home server.
 """
 
-__version__ = "0.26.0-rc1"
+__version__ = "0.26.0"