diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index b7bcfe65..561fcb63 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,15 @@
+Version 40.rc
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Released: 2021-04-14
+
+A candidate for the next stable release.
+
+Please see the AppStream file for updated features. Notable build
+changes included in this release:
+
+* Require libhandy 1.2.1
+* Add a dependency on ICU (actually in the last release)
+
 Version 40.alpha
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Released: 2021-01-18
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 5d826918..95f7a7c1 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 project('geary', [ 'vala', 'c' ],
-  version: '40.alpha',
+  version: '40.rc',
   license: 'LGPL2.1+',
   meson_version: '>= 0.55',
 )