diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index b7abe32519..6291fedb9a 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+Changes in synapse v0.23.0-rc2 (2017-09-26)
+===========================================
+
+Bug fixes:
+
+* Fix regression in performance of syncs (PR #2470)
+
+
 Changes in synapse v0.23.0-rc1 (2017-09-25)
 ===========================================
 
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index 30f78c11d1..ec83e6adb7 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@
 """ This is a reference implementation of a Matrix home server.
 """
 
-__version__ = "0.23.0-rc1"
+__version__ = "0.23.0-rc2"