diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a272d026a..1a70f61cf 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 [travis]: https://travis-ci.org/mcu-tools/mcuboot
 [license]: https://github.com/mcu-tools/mcuboot/blob/main/LICENSE
 
-This is MCUboot version 2.3.0-rc1
+This is MCUboot version 2.3.0-rc2
 
 MCUboot is a secure bootloader for 32-bits microcontrollers. It defines a
 common infrastructure for the bootloader and the system flash layout on
diff --git a/boot/zephyr/VERSION b/boot/zephyr/VERSION
index 7cef15cdf..42f41a889 100644
--- a/boot/zephyr/VERSION
+++ b/boot/zephyr/VERSION
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@ VERSION_MAJOR = 2
 VERSION_MINOR = 3
 PATCHLEVEL = 0
 VERSION_TWEAK = 0
-EXTRAVERSION = dev
+EXTRAVERSION = rc2
diff --git a/docs/release-notes.md b/docs/release-notes.md
index 95a80d9b7..f09d76083 100644
--- a/docs/release-notes.md
+++ b/docs/release-notes.md
@@ -58,6 +58,38 @@
   to set the MCUBOOT_BOOT_MAX_ALIGN.
 - Fixed issue with checking pin reset not checking for single
   flag in Zephyr.
+- imgtool verify when using a public ed25519 key has been fixed
+  to work rather than show an invalid key type not matching the
+  TLV record error.
+- Zephyr signature and encryption key file path handling has now
+  been aligned with Zephyr, this means values can be specified in
+  multiple .conf file and the one that last set it will be the set
+  value. This also means that key files will no longer be found
+  relative to the .conf file and will instead be found relative
+  to the build system ``APPLICATION_CONFIG_DIR`` variable, though
+  the key file strings are now configured which allows for using
+  escaped CMake variables to locate the files, for example with
+  ``\${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}`` to specify a file relative to
+  the folder that the file is in.
+- Watchdog support in Zephyr has been reworked and fixed to allow
+  installing a timeout (with a configurable value) before starting
+  it. The default timeout is set to 1 minute and this feature has
+  been enabled by default. 3 Kconfig options have been added which
+  control how the watchdog is used in MCUboot:
+
+    * ``CONFIG_BOOT_WATCHDOG_SETUP_AT_BOOT`` controls setting up
+      the watchdog in MCUboot (if not set up, it can still be set,
+      if the driver supports this non-compliant behaviour).
+    * ``CONFIG_BOOT_WATCHDOG_INSTALL_TIMEOUT_AT_BOOT`` controls if
+      a timeout is installed at bootup or not.
+    * ``CONFIG_BOOT_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT_MS`` sets the value of the
+      timeout in ms.
+
+- In addition, Zephyr modules can now over-ride the default
+  watchdog functionality by replacing the weakly defined functions
+  ``mcuboot_watchdog_setup`` and/or ``mcuboot_watchdog_feed``,
+  these functions take no arguments.
+- correct esp32c6 overlay
 
 ## Version 2.2.0
 
diff --git a/scripts/imgtool/__init__.py b/scripts/imgtool/__init__.py
index 91737d96c..695e0fa19 100644
--- a/scripts/imgtool/__init__.py
+++ b/scripts/imgtool/__init__.py
@@ -14,4 +14,4 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-imgtool_version = "2.3.0rc1"
+imgtool_version = "2.3.0rc2"