diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 04366241a9..a2f33f4a36 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -19,11 +19,11 @@ list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake")
 option(CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS "Export compile command" ON)
 
 include(utils)
-set_version(VERSION)
+set_version(VERSION RELEASE)
 
 project(ortools VERSION ${VERSION} LANGUAGES CXX C)
 set(PROJECT_NAMESPACE ortools)
-message(STATUS "${PROJECT_NAME} version: ${PROJECT_VERSION}")
+message(STATUS "${PROJECT_NAME} version: ${PROJECT_VERSION} release: ${RELEASE}")
 #message(STATUS "major: ${PROJECT_VERSION_MAJOR}")
 #message(STATUS "minor: ${PROJECT_VERSION_MINOR}")
 #message(STATUS "patch: ${PROJECT_VERSION_PATCH}")
diff --git a/cmake/python.cmake b/cmake/python.cmake
index 6aa1796b0a..7e7dffe0ea 100644
--- a/cmake/python.cmake
+++ b/cmake/python.cmake
@@ -425,6 +425,11 @@ file(TOUCH ${PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR}/sat/python/py.typed)
 
 # setup.py.in contains cmake variable e.g. @PYTHON_PROJECT@ and
 # generator expression e.g. $<TARGET_FILE_NAME:pyFoo>
+if(RELEASE)
+  set(PYTHON_RELEASE "")
+else()
+  set(PYTHON_RELEASE "rc1")
+endif()
 configure_file(
   ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/ortools/python/setup.py.in
   ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/python/setup.py.in
diff --git a/cmake/utils.cmake b/cmake/utils.cmake
index 3168e03ceb..16ae090538 100644
--- a/cmake/utils.cmake
+++ b/cmake/utils.cmake
@@ -35,13 +35,14 @@ function(get_patch_from_git VERSION_PATCH VERSION_MAJOR)
   set(${VERSION_PATCH} ${PATCH} PARENT_SCOPE)
 endfunction()
 
-function(set_version VERSION)
+function(set_version VERSION RELEASE)
   if(DEFINED ENV{OR_TOOLS_MAJOR} AND DEFINED ENV{OR_TOOLS_MINOR})
     set(MAJOR $ENV{OR_TOOLS_MAJOR})
     set(MINOR $ENV{OR_TOOLS_MINOR})
   else()
     # Get Major and Minor from Version.txt
     file(STRINGS "Version.txt" VERSION_STR)
+    set(IS_RELEASE TRUE)
     foreach(STR ${VERSION_STR})
       if(${STR} MATCHES "OR_TOOLS_MAJOR=(.*)")
         set(MAJOR ${CMAKE_MATCH_1})
@@ -49,6 +50,9 @@ function(set_version VERSION)
       if(${STR} MATCHES "OR_TOOLS_MINOR=(.*)")
         set(MINOR ${CMAKE_MATCH_1})
       endif()
+      if(${STR} MATCHES "^PRE_RELEASE=YES\$")
+        set(IS_RELEASE FALSE)
+      endif()
     endforeach()
   endif()
 
@@ -64,6 +68,7 @@ function(set_version VERSION)
     endif()
   endif()
   set(${VERSION} "${MAJOR}.${MINOR}.${PATCH}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+  set(${RELEASE} ${IS_RELEASE} PARENT_SCOPE)
 endfunction()
 
 
diff --git a/ortools/python/setup.py.in b/ortools/python/setup.py.in
index 62362cc4bc..ce713f0950 100644
--- a/ortools/python/setup.py.in
+++ b/ortools/python/setup.py.in
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ def read(fname):
 
 setup(
     name='@PYTHON_PROJECT@',
-    version='@PROJECT_VERSION@',
+    version='@PROJECT_VERSION@@PYTHON_RELEASE@',
     packages=find_packages(),
     python_requires='>= 3.9',
     install_requires=[