diff --git a/cmd/ipfs-cluster-ctl/main.go b/cmd/ipfs-cluster-ctl/main.go
index b9948bc4..6de41fab 100644
--- a/cmd/ipfs-cluster-ctl/main.go
+++ b/cmd/ipfs-cluster-ctl/main.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ const programName = `ipfs-cluster-ctl`
 
 // Version is the cluster-ctl tool version. It should match
 // the IPFS cluster's version
-const Version = "0.12.0-alpha1"
+const Version = "0.12.0-rc1"
 
 var (
 	defaultHost          = "/ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/9094"
diff --git a/version/version.go b/version/version.go
index e40cc1fa..4155d2c2 100644
--- a/version/version.go
+++ b/version/version.go
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import (
 
 // Version is the current cluster version. Version alignment between
 // components, apis and tools ensures compatibility among them.
-var Version = semver.MustParse("0.12.0-alpha1")
+var Version = semver.MustParse("0.12.0-rc1")
 
 // RPCProtocol is used to send libp2p messages between cluster peers
 var RPCProtocol = protocol.ID(