diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a33c6a06..490408e0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,26 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [1.18.0-rc.1](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/compare/v1.17.1-rc.1...v1.18.0-rc.1) (2025-11-25)
+
+
+### Features
+
+* minor bump ([8ec84c4](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/commit/8ec84c4818bf0e9493130ee505a2364e418bc447))
+
+## [1.17.1-rc.1](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/compare/v1.17.1-rc...v1.17.1-rc.1) (2025-11-25)
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* update Protobuf branch version to v3 ([9336f8d](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/commit/9336f8df92a376962487c8358ad570a5dcc47017))
+
+## [1.17.1-rc](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/compare/v1.17.0...v1.17.1-rc) (2025-11-25)
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* test patch bump change ([0b486d1](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/commit/0b486d11caa5be82b6cdbfc24f5ebe0cbd0a2ad6))
+
 ## [1.17.0](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/compare/v1.16.1...v1.17.0) (2025-10-10)
 
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9dc747a4..d017981d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 # Google Cloud Shared Build Configs
+## Protobuf 4.x branch - v6
 
 Shared Maven build configuration for Google Cloud Java client libraries.
 This is not intended for library users.
diff --git a/java-shared-config/pom.xml b/java-shared-config/pom.xml
index f90152a7..c170e586 100644
--- a/java-shared-config/pom.xml
+++ b/java-shared-config/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-shared-config</artifactId>
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
-  <version>1.17.1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current} -->
+  <version>1.18.0-rc.2-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current} -->
   <name>Google Cloud Shared Config</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config</url>
   <description>
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>native-image-shared-config</artifactId>
-    <version>1.17.1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current} -->
+    <version>1.18.0-rc.2-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current} -->
     <relativePath>../native-image-shared-config</relativePath>
   </parent>
 
diff --git a/native-image-shared-config/pom.xml b/native-image-shared-config/pom.xml
index b670659a..489f837f 100644
--- a/native-image-shared-config/pom.xml
+++ b/native-image-shared-config/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>native-image-shared-config</artifactId>
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
-  <version>1.17.1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current} -->
+  <version>1.18.0-rc.2-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current} -->
   <name>Native Image Shared Config</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config</url>
   <description>
diff --git a/versions.txt b/versions.txt
index b8805759..2390b81c 100644
--- a/versions.txt
+++ b/versions.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # Format:
 # module:released-version:current-version
 
-google-cloud-shared-config:1.17.0:1.17.1-SNAPSHOT
+google-cloud-shared-config:1.18.0-rc.1:1.18.0-rc.2-SNAPSHOT