diff --git a/avro/pom.xml b/avro/pom.xml
index 5a340c5b1..fc6b64c7a 100644
--- a/avro/pom.xml
+++ b/avro/pom.xml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat</groupId>
     <artifactId>jackson-dataformats-binary</artifactId>
-    <version>2.16.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>2.16.0-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>jackson-dataformat-avro</artifactId>
   <name>Jackson dataformat: Avro</name>
diff --git a/cbor/pom.xml b/cbor/pom.xml
index 0bbddabf2..215c4aef3 100644
--- a/cbor/pom.xml
+++ b/cbor/pom.xml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat</groupId>
     <artifactId>jackson-dataformats-binary</artifactId>
-    <version>2.16.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>2.16.0-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>jackson-dataformat-cbor</artifactId>
   <name>Jackson dataformat: CBOR</name>
diff --git a/ion/pom.xml b/ion/pom.xml
index 943378c3a..e59068ac9 100644
--- a/ion/pom.xml
+++ b/ion/pom.xml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat</groupId>
     <artifactId>jackson-dataformats-binary</artifactId>
-    <version>2.16.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>2.16.0-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version>
   </parent>
   <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat</groupId>
   <artifactId>jackson-dataformat-ion</artifactId>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 299fa2734..92c90b803 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -4,12 +4,12 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson</groupId>
     <artifactId>jackson-base</artifactId>
-    <version>2.16.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>2.16.0-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version>
   </parent>
   <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat</groupId>
   <artifactId>jackson-dataformats-binary</artifactId>
   <name>Jackson dataformats: Binary</name>
-  <version>2.16.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+  <version>2.16.0-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version>
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
   <description>Parent pom for Jackson binary dataformats.
   </description>
diff --git a/protobuf/pom.xml b/protobuf/pom.xml
index d29238044..d0277cbd0 100644
--- a/protobuf/pom.xml
+++ b/protobuf/pom.xml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat</groupId>
     <artifactId>jackson-dataformats-binary</artifactId>
-    <version>2.16.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>2.16.0-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>jackson-dataformat-protobuf</artifactId>
   <name>Jackson dataformat: protobuf</name>
diff --git a/smile/pom.xml b/smile/pom.xml
index a9e3da8e7..c7e26f905 100644
--- a/smile/pom.xml
+++ b/smile/pom.xml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat</groupId>
     <artifactId>jackson-dataformats-binary</artifactId>
-    <version>2.16.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>2.16.0-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>jackson-dataformat-smile</artifactId>
   <name>Jackson dataformat: Smile</name>