diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 89b0a8c2a63..84c7abfb687 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-Release 7.2.6 (in development)
-==============================
+Release 7.2.6 (released Sep 13, 2023)
+=====================================
 
 Bugs fixed
 ----------
diff --git a/sphinx/__init__.py b/sphinx/__init__.py
index 58e685a180f..d4b2178d681 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, 6, 'beta', 0)
+version_info = (7, 2, 6, '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