diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 1389bdb155..7e86fd55b5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-Version 2025.02 (unreleased)
+Version 2025.07 (unreleased)
   Friendica Core
     Deprecated bin/daemon in favor of bin/console daemon (PR 14642) [nupplaphil]
     Deprecated bin/jetstream in favor of bin/console jetstream (PR 14655) [nupplaphil]
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 2d4bb52626..eeeb1d3112 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2025.02-dev
+2025.07-rc
diff --git a/src/App.php b/src/App.php
index b10e474885..604f625cbc 100644
--- a/src/App.php
+++ b/src/App.php
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ class App
 {
 	const PLATFORM = 'Friendica';
 	const CODENAME = 'Interrupted Fern';
-	const VERSION  = '2025.02-dev';
+	const VERSION  = '2025.07-rc';
 
 	/**
 	 * @internal