diff --git a/.bumpversion.cfg b/.bumpversion.cfg
index 72ff5a271..811b2efc7 100644
--- a/.bumpversion.cfg
+++ b/.bumpversion.cfg
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [bumpversion]
-current_version = 7.0.0-rc.4
+current_version = 7.0.0-rc.5
 commit = True
 tag = True
 parse = (?P<major>\d+)\.(?P<minor>\d+)\.(?P<patch>\d+)(-(?P<stage>[^.]*)\.(?P<devnum>\d+))?
diff --git a/nucypher/__about__.py b/nucypher/__about__.py
index 8592f3da7..5259ccf75 100644
--- a/nucypher/__about__.py
+++ b/nucypher/__about__.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ __url__ = "https://github.com/nucypher/nucypher"
 
 __summary__ = "A threshold access control application to empower privacy in decentralized systems."
 
-__version__ = "7.0.0-rc.4"
+__version__ = "7.0.0-rc.5"
 
 __author__ = "NuCypher"