diff --git a/tools/build/bazel/variables.bzl b/tools/build/bazel/variables.bzl
index a351e99..974a335 100644
--- a/tools/build/bazel/variables.bzl
+++ b/tools/build/bazel/variables.bzl
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-ONOS_VERSION = "2.2.6-SNAPSHOT"
+ONOS_VERSION = "2.2.6-rc1"
 ONOS_ARTIFACT_BASE = "onos-"
 ONOS_GROUP_ID = "org.onosproject"
 ONOS_ORIGIN = "ONOS Community"
diff --git a/tools/build/envDefaults b/tools/build/envDefaults
index 61fdd05..de6807b 100644
--- a/tools/build/envDefaults
+++ b/tools/build/envDefaults
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@
 export BUILD_NUMBER=${BUILD_NUMBER:-$(id -un)}
 
 # ONOS Version and onos.tar.gz staging environment
-export ONOS_POM_VERSION="2.2.6-SNAPSHOT"
-export ONOS_VERSION=${ONOS_VERSION:-2.2.6.$BUILD_NUMBER}
+export ONOS_POM_VERSION="2.2.6-rc1"
+export ONOS_VERSION=${ONOS_VERSION:-2.2.6-rc1.$BUILD_NUMBER}
 
 # ONOS production bits (onos.tar.gz, onos.zip, onos.deb, onos.rpm) staging environment
 export ONOS_BITS=onos-${ONOS_VERSION%~*}