diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 740eac7..1233025 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -7,17 +7,17 @@ cmake_minimum_required (VERSION 3.25...3.30)
 # Define the application name and version.
 project (needle
          LANGUAGES CXX
-         VERSION 1.0.3
+         VERSION 1.0.4
          DESCRIPTION "A fast and space-efficient pre-filter for estimating the quantification of very large collections of nucleotide sequences"
          HOMEPAGE_URL "https://github.com/seqan/needle"
 )
 
 set (NEEDLE_ARGPARSE_VERSION
-     "${needle_VERSION}"
+     "${needle_VERSION}-rc.1"
      CACHE STRING "Needle version to display in the help message."
 )
 set (NEEDLE_ARGPARSE_DATE
-     "2024-11-07"
+     "2024-11-08"
      CACHE STRING "Needle's \"Last update:\" date to display in the help message."
 )
 
diff --git a/cmake/package.cmake b/cmake/package.cmake
index d2820a9..d989da6 100644
--- a/cmake/package.cmake
+++ b/cmake/package.cmake
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 ## PACKAGE
 # Change in top-level CMakeLists.txt:
 #   Version -> project (needle VERSION x.x.x)
+#   Release Candiate -> set (NEEDLE_ARGPARSE_VERSION "${needle_VERSION}-rc.1")
+#                       set (NEEDLE_ARGPARSE_VERSION "${needle_VERSION}) for release
 #   Date -> set (NEEDLE_ARGPARSE_DATE "YYYY-MM-DD")
 # No dependencies should be locally installed.
 # To package, create a clean directory:
@@ -27,7 +29,7 @@ cmake_minimum_required (VERSION 3.7...3.30)
 
 set (CPACK_GENERATOR "TXZ")
 
-set (CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION "${needle_VERSION}")
+set (CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION "${NEEDLE_ARGPARSE_VERSION}")
 set (CPACK_PACKAGE_VENDOR "seqan")
 set (CPACK_PACKAGE_CHECKSUM "SHA256")
 set (CPACK_RESOURCE_FILE_LICENSE "${needle_SOURCE_DIR}/LICENSE.md")