diff --git a/Include/patchlevel.h b/Include/patchlevel.h
index 955e650..f565752 100644
--- a/Include/patchlevel.h
+++ b/Include/patchlevel.h
@@ -23,11 +23,11 @@
 #define PY_MAJOR_VERSION	2
 #define PY_MINOR_VERSION	6
 #define PY_MICRO_VERSION	8
-#define PY_RELEASE_LEVEL	PY_RELEASE_LEVEL_GAMMA
-#define PY_RELEASE_SERIAL	2
+#define PY_RELEASE_LEVEL	PY_RELEASE_LEVEL_FINAL
+#define PY_RELEASE_SERIAL	0
 
 /* Version as a string */
-#define PY_VERSION      	"2.6.8rc2"
+#define PY_VERSION      	"2.6.8"
 /*--end constants--*/
 
 /* Subversion Revision number of this file (not of the repository) */
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/__init__.py b/Lib/distutils/__init__.py
index 141b377..e5008c9 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/__init__.py
@@ -22,5 +22,5 @@
 #
 
 #--start constants--
-__version__ = "2.6.8rc2"
+__version__ = "2.6.8"
 #--end constants--
diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py b/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py
index 4acb814..92525ae 100644
--- a/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-IDLE_VERSION = "2.6.8rc2"
+IDLE_VERSION = "2.6.8"
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index a8e813d..cdd3cf5 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -2,6 +2,14 @@
 Python News
 +++++++++++
 
+What's New in Python 2.6.8?
+===========================
+
+*Release date: 2012-04-10*
+
+No changes since 2.6.8rc2.
+
+
 What's New in Python 2.6.8 rc 2?
 ================================
 
diff --git a/Misc/RPM/python-2.6.spec b/Misc/RPM/python-2.6.spec
index 41471bb..e80b952 100644
--- a/Misc/RPM/python-2.6.spec
+++ b/Misc/RPM/python-2.6.spec
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 
 %define name python
 #--start constants--
-%define version 2.6.8rc2
+%define version 2.6.8
 %define libvers 2.6
 #--end constants--
 %define release 1pydotorg
diff --git a/README b/README
index 5656285..9cda724 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-This is Python version 2.6.8 rc 2
-=================================
+This is Python version 2.6.8
+============================
 
 Copyright (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010,
               2011, 2012