diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index b320438..67766c8 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ dnl Process this file with autoconf to produce a configure script.
 dnl This config.in requires autoconf 2.5 or greater.
 
 AC_PREREQ([2.68])
-AC_INIT([qpdf],[8.0.a1])
+AC_INIT([qpdf],[8.0.rc1])
 
 AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([autoconf.mk])
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDF.cc b/libqpdf/QPDF.cc
index c6fddd3..da9cb3d 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDF.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDF.cc
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 #include <qpdf/QPDF_Null.hh>
 #include <qpdf/QPDF_Dictionary.hh>
 
-std::string QPDF::qpdf_version = "8.0.a1";
+std::string QPDF::qpdf_version = "8.0.rc1";
 
 static char const* EMPTY_PDF =
     "%PDF-1.3\n"
diff --git a/manual/qpdf-manual.xml b/manual/qpdf-manual.xml
index 2939fe4..a937d2d 100644
--- a/manual/qpdf-manual.xml
+++ b/manual/qpdf-manual.xml
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
 <!ENTITY mdash "&#x2014;">
 <!ENTITY ndash "&#x2013;">
 <!ENTITY nbsp "&#xA0;">
-<!ENTITY swversion "8.0.a1">
-<!ENTITY lastreleased "February 20, 2018">
+<!ENTITY swversion "8.0.rc1">
+<!ENTITY lastreleased "February 25, 2018">
 ]>
 <book>
  <bookinfo>
@@ -3050,7 +3050,7 @@ print "\n";
   </para>
   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
-    <term>8.0.0: February XXX, 2018</term>
+    <term>8.0.0: February 25, 2018</term>
     <listitem>
      <itemizedlist>
       <listitem>