diff --git a/skimage/__init__.py b/skimage/__init__.py
index ba8c889faa2..17d38a5731a 100644
--- a/skimage/__init__.py
+++ b/skimage/__init__.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
 
 """
 
-__version__ = '0.23.0rc2.dev0'
+__version__ = '0.23.0rc2'
 
 from ._shared.version_requirements import ensure_python_version