diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 2f6998b49b..5123f9cc9d 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2.2.0-alpha1
+2.2.0-rc0
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml
index 6c74f8cb27..a94118c65e 100644
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup.yaml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ spec:
           katacontainers.io/kata-runtime: cleanup
       containers:
       - name: kube-kata-cleanup
-        image: quay.io/kata-containers/kata-deploy:2.2.0-alpha1
+        image: quay.io/kata-containers/kata-deploy:2.2.0-rc0
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         command: [ "bash", "-c", "/opt/kata-artifacts/scripts/kata-deploy.sh reset" ]
         env:
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml
index 06d9593179..35ef327b21 100644
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy.yaml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ spec:
       serviceAccountName: kata-label-node
       containers:
       - name: kube-kata
-        image: quay.io/kata-containers/kata-deploy:2.2.0-alpha1
+        image: quay.io/kata-containers/kata-deploy:2.2.0-rc0
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         lifecycle:
           preStop: