diff --git a/Version.txt b/Version.txt
index 2bf7f1062b..498e8f8d17 100644
--- a/Version.txt
+++ b/Version.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 OR_TOOLS_MAJOR=9
 OR_TOOLS_MINOR=15
-#PRE_RELEASE=YES
+#RELEASE_CANDIDATE=YES
diff --git a/cmake/utils.cmake b/cmake/utils.cmake
index 16ae090538..bf74d48b56 100644
--- a/cmake/utils.cmake
+++ b/cmake/utils.cmake
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ function(set_version VERSION RELEASE)
       if(${STR} MATCHES "OR_TOOLS_MINOR=(.*)")
         set(MINOR ${CMAKE_MATCH_1})
       endif()
-      if(${STR} MATCHES "^PRE_RELEASE=YES\$")
+      if(${STR} MATCHES "^RELEASE_CANDIDATE=YES\$")
         set(IS_RELEASE FALSE)
       endif()
     endforeach()
diff --git a/makefiles/Makefile.port.mk b/makefiles/Makefile.port.mk
index 14dfc053f2..0535ad8a6a 100644
--- a/makefiles/Makefile.port.mk
+++ b/makefiles/Makefile.port.mk
@@ -298,9 +298,9 @@ endif
 
 OR_TOOLS_VERSION := $(OR_TOOLS_MAJOR).$(OR_TOOLS_MINOR).$(OR_TOOLS_PATCH)
 OR_TOOLS_SHORT_VERSION := $(OR_TOOLS_MAJOR).$(OR_TOOLS_MINOR)
-ifdef PRE_RELEASE
-  OR_TOOLS_VERSION := $(OR_TOOLS_VERSION)-beta
-  OR_TOOLS_SHORT_VERSION := $(OR_TOOLS_SHORT_VERSION)-beta
+ifdef RELEASE_CANDIDATE
+  OR_TOOLS_VERSION := $(OR_TOOLS_VERSION)-rc
+  OR_TOOLS_SHORT_VERSION := $(OR_TOOLS_SHORT_VERSION)-rc
 endif
 
 ifneq ($(wildcard .git),)
diff --git a/makefiles/Makefile.python.mk b/makefiles/Makefile.python.mk
index 161abfa9ed..d8321ddefe 100644
--- a/makefiles/Makefile.python.mk
+++ b/makefiles/Makefile.python.mk
@@ -459,10 +459,10 @@ $(PYPI_ARCHIVE_TEMP_DIR)/ortools/README.txt: ortools/python/README.pypi.txt | $(
 $(PYPI_ARCHIVE_TEMP_DIR)/ortools/LICENSE: LICENSE | $(PYPI_ARCHIVE_TEMP_DIR)/ortools
 	$(COPY) LICENSE $(PYPI_ARCHIVE_TEMP_DIR)$Sortools
 
-ifndef PRE_RELEASE
+ifndef RELEASE_CANDIDATE
 OR_TOOLS_PYTHON_VERSION := $(OR_TOOLS_VERSION)
 else
-OR_TOOLS_PYTHON_VERSION := $(OR_TOOLS_MAJOR).$(OR_TOOLS_MINOR)b$(OR_TOOLS_PATCH)
+OR_TOOLS_PYTHON_VERSION := $(OR_TOOLS_VERSION)rc1
 endif
 
 
diff --git a/tools/docker/Makefile b/tools/docker/Makefile
index 4b14e7453b..2d7890551d 100644
--- a/tools/docker/Makefile
+++ b/tools/docker/Makefile
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ OR_TOOLS_SHA1 := $(shell git rev-parse --verify HEAD)
 include ../../Version.txt
 OR_TOOLS_PATCH := $(shell git rev-list --count v${OR_TOOLS_MAJOR}.0..HEAD || echo 0)
 OR_TOOLS_VERSION := ${OR_TOOLS_MAJOR}.${OR_TOOLS_MINOR}.${OR_TOOLS_PATCH}
-ifdef PRE_RELEASE
+ifdef RELEASE_CANDIDATE
 OR_TOOLS_VERSION := ${OR_TOOLS_VERSION}-rc
 endif
 $(info branch: ${OR_TOOLS_BRANCH})