diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 9fb0a3c6..a3a5ce2f 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson</groupId>
         <artifactId>jackson-base</artifactId>
-        <version>2.18.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <version>2.18.0</version>
     </parent>
     <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.module</groupId>
     <artifactId>jackson-module-kotlin</artifactId>
diff --git a/release-notes/VERSION-2.x b/release-notes/VERSION-2.x
index f86dd318..a05d0763 100644
--- a/release-notes/VERSION-2.x
+++ b/release-notes/VERSION-2.x
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Co-maintainers:
 === Releases ===
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-2.18.0 (not yet released)
+2.18.0 (26-Sep-2024)
 
 #818: The implementation of the search process for the `JsonCreator` (often the primary constructor)
   used by default for deserialization has been changed to `AnnotationIntrospector#findDefaultCreator`.