diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 4210d09d2..8d91a7921 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+Synapse 1.53.0 (2022-02-22)
+===========================
+
+No significant changes.
+
+
 Synapse 1.53.0rc1 (2022-02-15)
 ==============================
 
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index fe79d7ed5..574930c08 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+matrix-synapse-py3 (1.53.0) stable; urgency=medium
+
+  * New synapse release 1.53.0.
+
+ -- Synapse Packaging team <packages@matrix.org>  Tue, 22 Feb 2022 11:32:06 +0000
+
 matrix-synapse-py3 (1.53.0~rc1) stable; urgency=medium
 
   * New synapse release 1.53.0~rc1.
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index 2bf8eb2a1..903f2e815 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     pass
 
-__version__ = "1.53.0rc1"
+__version__ = "1.53.0"
 
 if bool(os.environ.get("SYNAPSE_TEST_PATCH_LOG_CONTEXTS", False)):
     # We import here so that we don't have to install a bunch of deps when