diff --git a/RELEASES.md b/RELEASES.md
index 49d4447121..5b711c0320 100644
--- a/RELEASES.md
+++ b/RELEASES.md
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ to all committers.
 | [2.1](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v2.1.9)  | End of Life    | May 7, 2025                    | July 3, 2026                   |                        |
 | [2.2](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v2.2.5)  | Active         | November 5, 2025               | November 6, 2026               | @containerd/committers |
 | [2.3](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v2.3.2)  | LTS            | April 30, 2026                 | April 30, 2028                 | @containerd/committers |
-| [2.4](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/milestone/51)         | RC             | September 15, 2026             | May 15, 2027                   | @containerd/committers |
+| [2.4](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/milestone/51)         | Active         | September 16, 2026             | May 16, 2027                   | @containerd/committers |
 
 \* Support for the 1.7 release branch was provided by @containerd/committers until March 10, 2026. Extended support through September 2026 is provided by [@samuelkarp](https://github.com/samuelkarp) and [@chrishenzie](https://github.com/chrishenzie).  This extended support is focused on usage with Kubernetes 1.32, 1.31, and 1.30 via [Google Kubernetes Engine](https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine).  Changes may not be accepted if they are not needed for this usage.
 
@@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ releases for prior API versions should be avoided if possible.
 | v2.1               | 1.9                    |
 | v2.2               | 1.10                   |
 | v2.3               | 1.11                   |
-| _v2.4_             | _1.12_                 |
+| v2.4               | 1.12                   |
 
 
 ### Metrics API
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index eafa1fe0c0..eb6ce7add3 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/containerd/btrfs/v2 v2.0.0
 	github.com/containerd/cgroups/v3 v3.1.3
 	github.com/containerd/console v1.0.5
-	github.com/containerd/containerd/api v1.12.0-rc.1
+	github.com/containerd/containerd/api v1.12.0
 	github.com/containerd/continuity v0.5.0
 	github.com/containerd/errdefs v1.0.0
 	github.com/containerd/errdefs/pkg v0.3.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 1f38537654..8bc4abe472 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ github.com/containerd/cgroups/v3 v3.1.3 h1:eUNflyMddm18+yrDmZPn3jI7C5hJ9ahABE5q6
 github.com/containerd/cgroups/v3 v3.1.3/go.mod h1:PKZ2AcWmSBsY/tJUVhtS/rluX0b1uq1GmPO1ElCmbOw=
 github.com/containerd/console v1.0.5 h1:R0ymNeydRqH2DmakFNdmjR2k0t7UPuiOV/N/27/qqsc=
 github.com/containerd/console v1.0.5/go.mod h1:YynlIjWYF8myEu6sdkwKIvGQq+cOckRm6So2avqoYAk=
-github.com/containerd/containerd/api v1.12.0-rc.1 h1:KkO8HX+3IS/NY4gpg0fsKZmLfmggO1RIvXCNYLLOJGQ=
-github.com/containerd/containerd/api v1.12.0-rc.1/go.mod h1:EBcSzoi9Vl18cdODaXUCskf3D2NT8lsSXeZJnU5jIUc=
+github.com/containerd/containerd/api v1.12.0 h1:kuQm82SbDrCuO4n7hf2L8zsBtZLuympyq5X/VotfX2A=
+github.com/containerd/containerd/api v1.12.0/go.mod h1:EBcSzoi9Vl18cdODaXUCskf3D2NT8lsSXeZJnU5jIUc=
 github.com/containerd/continuity v0.5.0 h1:7a85HZpCSs+1Zps0Ee3DPSuAWY+0SJM1JNM51nlEVDg=
 github.com/containerd/continuity v0.5.0/go.mod h1:/lNJvtJKUQStBzpVQ1+rasXO1LAWtUQssk28EZvJ3nE=
 github.com/containerd/errdefs v1.0.0 h1:tg5yIfIlQIrxYtu9ajqY42W3lpS19XqdxRQeEwYG8PI=
diff --git a/releases/v2.4.0-rc.toml b/releases/v2.4.0.toml
similarity index 94%
rename from releases/v2.4.0-rc.toml
rename to releases/v2.4.0.toml
index ddfe134838..28a23bc926 100644
--- a/releases/v2.4.0-rc.toml
+++ b/releases/v2.4.0.toml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ ignore_deps = [ "github.com/containerd/containerd" ]
 # previous release
 previous = "v2.3.0"
 
-pre_release = true
+pre_release = false
 
 preface = """\
 containerd 2.4 is a regular (non-LTS) release with a shorter support window,
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@ current version before upgrading.
 
 Users prioritizing stability and a longer support lifecycle should stay on the
 2.3 LTS release.
-
-This is a beta release and some functionality is still under development.
 """
 
 postface = """\
diff --git a/vendor/modules.txt b/vendor/modules.txt
index 8c266c86dd..0db1d91eed 100644
--- a/vendor/modules.txt
+++ b/vendor/modules.txt
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ github.com/containerd/cgroups/v3/cgroup2/stats
 # github.com/containerd/console v1.0.5
 ## explicit; go 1.13
 github.com/containerd/console
-# github.com/containerd/containerd/api v1.12.0-rc.1
+# github.com/containerd/containerd/api v1.12.0
 ## explicit; go 1.25.0
 github.com/containerd/containerd/api/events
 github.com/containerd/containerd/api/runtime/bootstrap/v1
diff --git a/version/version.go b/version/version.go
index 6857cb2fe9..93acedba1d 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 = "2.4.0-rc+unknown"
+	Version = "2.4.0+unknown"
 
 	// Revision is filled with the VCS (e.g. git) revision being used to build
 	// the program at linking time.