diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index d460cf019..69d36cbcb 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,14 +1,5 @@
-Release 4.2.0 (in development)
-==============================
-
-Dependencies
-------------
-
-Incompatible changes
---------------------
-
-Deprecated
-----------
+Release 4.2.0 (released Sep 12, 2021)
+=====================================
 
 Features added
 --------------
@@ -59,9 +50,6 @@ Bugs fixed
   language-highlighted ``:code:`` role.
 * #9512: sphinx-build: crashed with the HEAD of Python 3.10
 
-Testing
---------
-
 Release 4.1.2 (released Jul 27, 2021)
 =====================================
 
diff --git a/sphinx/__init__.py b/sphinx/__init__.py
index fbc14c5c7..d5b13108f 100644
--- a/sphinx/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinx/__init__.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ if 'PYTHONWARNINGS' not in os.environ:
 warnings.filterwarnings('ignore', "'U' mode is deprecated",
                         DeprecationWarning, module='docutils.io')
 
-__version__ = '4.2.0+'
+__version__ = '4.2.0'
 __released__ = '4.2.0'  # used when Sphinx builds its own docs
 
 #: Version info for better programmatic use.
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ __released__ = '4.2.0'  # used when Sphinx builds its own docs
 #:
 #: .. versionadded:: 1.2
 #:    Before version 1.2, check the string ``sphinx.__version__``.
-version_info = (4, 2, 0, 'beta', 0)
+version_info = (4, 2, 0, 'final', 0)
 
 package_dir = path.abspath(path.dirname(__file__))