diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index b09242c91..8c763d47b 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -46,6 +46,11 @@ strongswan-5.8.0
 - UTF-8 encoded passwords are supported via EAP-MSCHAPv2, which internally uses
   an UTF-16LE encoding to calculate the NT hash.
 
+- Adds the build-certs script to generate the keys and certificates used for
+  regression tests dynamically.  They are built with the pki version installed
+  in the KVM root image so it's not necessary to have an up-to-date version with
+  all required plugins installed on the host system.
+
 
 strongswan-5.7.2
 ----------------
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 78b387734..a51271d9b 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 #  initialize & set some vars
 # ============================
 
-AC_INIT([strongSwan],[5.8.0dr2])
+AC_INIT([strongSwan],[5.8.0rc1])
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE(m4_esyscmd([
 	echo tar-ustar
 	echo subdir-objects
diff --git a/testing/testing.conf b/testing/testing.conf
index 6c9f1b4f0..f2b4d2ff1 100644
--- a/testing/testing.conf
+++ b/testing/testing.conf
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ fi
 : ${KERNELPATCH=ha-5.0-abicompat.patch.bz2}
 
 # strongSwan version used in tests
-: ${SWANVERSION=5.8.0dr2}
+: ${SWANVERSION=5.8.0rc1}
 
 # Build directory where the guest kernel and images will be built
 : ${BUILDDIR=$TESTDIR/build}