diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 810063774d6..4adaf066ca2 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,17 +1,5 @@
-Release 7.2.1 (in development)
-==============================
-
-Dependencies
-------------
-
-Incompatible changes
---------------------
-
-Deprecated
-----------
-
-Features added
---------------
+Release 7.2.1 (released Aug 17, 2023)
+=====================================
 
 Bugs fixed
 ----------
@@ -24,9 +12,6 @@ Bugs fixed
 * Restored the private API ``TocTree.get_toctree_ancestors()``,
   which several extensions relied upon.
 
-Testing
--------
-
 Release 7.2.0 (released Aug 17, 2023)
 =====================================
 
diff --git a/sphinx/__init__.py b/sphinx/__init__.py
index e38a19e8b74..4f95d36689d 100644
--- a/sphinx/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinx/__init__.py
@@ -30,11 +30,11 @@
 #:
 #: .. versionadded:: 1.2
 #:    Before version 1.2, check the string ``sphinx.__version__``.
-version_info = (7, 2, 1, 'beta', 0)
+version_info = (7, 2, 1, 'final', 0)
 
 package_dir = path.abspath(path.dirname(__file__))
 
-_in_development = True
+_in_development = False
 if _in_development:
     # Only import subprocess if needed
     import subprocess