diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6250f595..201598ca 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # NVIDIA Container Toolkit Changelog
 
+## v1.16.0-rc.1
 * Move `nvidia-ctk hook` commands to a separate `nvidia-cdi-hook` binary. The same subcommands are supported.
 
 ## v1.15.0
diff --git a/versions.mk b/versions.mk
index 74faa2e0..0bb7ce96 100644
--- a/versions.mk
+++ b/versions.mk
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 LIB_NAME := nvidia-container-toolkit
-LIB_VERSION := 1.15.0
-LIB_TAG :=
+LIB_VERSION := 1.16.0
+LIB_TAG := rc.1
 
 # The package version is the combination of the library version and tag.
 # If the tag is specified the two components are joined with a tilde (~).