diff --git a/Doc/commontex/boilerplate.tex b/Doc/commontex/boilerplate.tex
index eb3b6f4..481fab0 100644
--- a/Doc/commontex/boilerplate.tex
+++ b/Doc/commontex/boilerplate.tex
@@ -5,5 +5,5 @@
 	Email: \email{docs@python.org}
 }
 
-\date{13th December, 2008}			% XXX update before final release!
+\date{19th December, 2008}			% XXX update before final release!
 \input{patchlevel}		% include Python version information
diff --git a/Include/patchlevel.h b/Include/patchlevel.h
index c79ba18..61826a9 100644
--- a/Include/patchlevel.h
+++ b/Include/patchlevel.h
@@ -22,11 +22,11 @@
 #define PY_MAJOR_VERSION	2
 #define PY_MINOR_VERSION	5
 #define PY_MICRO_VERSION	3
-#define PY_RELEASE_LEVEL	PY_RELEASE_LEVEL_GAMMA
-#define PY_RELEASE_SERIAL	1
+#define PY_RELEASE_LEVEL	PY_RELEASE_LEVEL_FINAL
+#define PY_RELEASE_SERIAL	0
 
 /* Version as a string */
-#define PY_VERSION		"2.5.3c1"
+#define PY_VERSION		"2.5.3"
 
 /* Subversion Revision number of this file (not of the repository) */
 #define PY_PATCHLEVEL_REVISION  "$Revision$"
diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/NEWS.txt b/Lib/idlelib/NEWS.txt
index 1d0a712..7528e46 100644
--- a/Lib/idlelib/NEWS.txt
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/NEWS.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+What's New in IDLE 1.2.3?
+=========================
+
+*Release date: 19-Dec-2008*
+
 What's New in IDLE 1.2.3c1?
 ===========================
 
diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py b/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py
index bf76c40..1ffd7a7 100644
--- a/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-IDLE_VERSION = "1.2.3c1"
+IDLE_VERSION = "1.2.3"
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index a288d5f..dccb4e6 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 What's New in Python 2.5.3?
 ===========================
 
-*Release date: 1X-Dec-2008*
+*Release date: 19-Dec-2008*
 
 
 Build
diff --git a/README b/README
index 8699ba7..758ce3e 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-This is Python version 2.5.3c1
-==============================
+This is Python version 2.5.3
+============================
 
 Copyright (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Python Software 
 Foundation.