diff --git a/Include/patchlevel.h b/Include/patchlevel.h
index edb9ae8cd6a..3789b059d52 100644
--- a/Include/patchlevel.h
+++ b/Include/patchlevel.h
@@ -24,10 +24,10 @@
 #define PY_MINOR_VERSION	7
 #define PY_MICRO_VERSION	10
 #define PY_RELEASE_LEVEL	PY_RELEASE_LEVEL_GAMMA
-#define PY_RELEASE_SERIAL	0
+#define PY_RELEASE_SERIAL	1
 
 /* Version as a string */
-#define PY_VERSION      	"2.7.10rc0"
+#define PY_VERSION      	"2.7.10rc1"
 /*--end constants--*/
 
 /* Subversion Revision number of this file (not of the repository). Empty
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/__init__.py b/Lib/distutils/__init__.py
index 8780be7cbdd..90f438d585c 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/__init__.py
@@ -15,5 +15,5 @@ __revision__ = "$Id$"
 # Updated automatically by the Python release process.
 #
 #--start constants--
-__version__ = "2.7.9"
+__version__ = "2.7.10rc1"
 #--end constants--
diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py b/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py
index ba1b4d5ff4e..b80c4795fa4 100644
--- a/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-IDLE_VERSION = "2.7.9"
+IDLE_VERSION = "2.7.10rc1"
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index b5a149c9b42..aef5e59536d 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@
 Python News
 +++++++++++
 
-What's New in Python 2.7.10?
-============================
+What's New in Python 2.7.10 release candidate 1?
+================================================
 
-*Release date: XXXX-XX-XX*
+*Release date: 2015-05-10*
 
 Core and Builtins
 -----------------
diff --git a/README b/README
index 4c4c2395f42..252d90ea5cb 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-This is Python version 2.7.9
-============================
+This is Python version 2.7.10
+=============================
 
 Copyright (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011,
 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 Python Software Foundation.  All rights reserved.