diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 7b1cf1d8e357bca9905ae657b7da12e3b0553d6a..5a77cc628723956c6e2d30ba8fd0ff274df1d25c 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.8.0-beta1
+1.8.0-rc1
diff --git a/arkindex/system_workers.yml b/arkindex/system_workers.yml
index c5fa7f6461beb1845691cb92cef57e7eccce6d86..650c3ce94bfb92b79d1a7d1697dd4f2e34f6cbb4 100644
--- a/arkindex/system_workers.yml
+++ b/arkindex/system_workers.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # When releasing Arkindex, check that the Docker images set here are up to date,
 # then update the `version` to the current Arkindex version as set in the `VERSION` file
 # to confirm that the images have been manually checked.
-version: 1.8.0-beta1
+version: 1.8.0-rc1
 
 features:
     file_import: