diff --git a/releases/v2.2.0-beta.toml b/releases/v2.2.0-rc.toml
similarity index 93%
rename from releases/v2.2.0-beta.toml
rename to releases/v2.2.0-rc.toml
index 07a173d77b..009f8a8dbe 100644
--- a/releases/v2.2.0-beta.toml
+++ b/releases/v2.2.0-rc.toml
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@ pre_release = true
 preface = """\
 The second minor release of containerd 2.x focuses on continued stability alongside
 new features and improvements. This is the second time-based released for containerd.
-
-This is a beta release and some functionality is still under development.
 """
 
 postface = """\
diff --git a/version/version.go b/version/version.go
index a4936bf6dc..ffa43840ea 100644
--- a/version/version.go
+++ b/version/version.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ var (
 	Package = "github.com/containerd/containerd/v2"
 
 	// Version holds the complete version number. Filled in at linking time.
-	Version = "2.2.0-beta+unknown"
+	Version = "2.2.0-rc+unknown"
 
 	// Revision is filled with the VCS (e.g. git) revision being used to build
 	// the program at linking time.