diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a80eae58..46b58276 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@
 
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.1)
 project(ZNC VERSION 1.8.0 LANGUAGES CXX)
-set(ZNC_VERSION 1.8.x)
-set(append_git_version true)
-set(alpha_version "") # e.g. "-rc1"
+set(ZNC_VERSION 1.8.0)
+set(append_git_version false)
+set(alpha_version "-alpha1") # e.g. "-rc1"
 set(VERSION_EXTRA "" CACHE STRING
 	"Additional string appended to version, e.g. to mark distribution")
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 2dd5b1d3..6a8e908d 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ AC_DEFUN([AC_PROG_CC], [m4_errprint(__file__:__line__[: Something is trying to u
 dnl Needed for AC_PATH_PROGS_FEATURE_CHECK which was added in 2.62
 AC_PREREQ([2.62])
 dnl Keep the version number in sync with version.h!
-AC_INIT([znc], [1.8.x])
-LIBZNC_VERSION=1.8.x
+AC_INIT([znc], [1.8.0-alpha1])
+LIBZNC_VERSION=1.8.0
 AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([src/znc.cpp])
 AC_LANG([C++])
diff --git a/include/znc/version.h b/include/znc/version.h
index d40ea5f6..04eae2d0 100644
--- a/include/znc/version.h
+++ b/include/znc/version.h
@@ -20,9 +20,9 @@ limitations under the License.
 // The following defines are for #if comparison (preprocessor only likes ints)
 #define VERSION_MAJOR 1
 #define VERSION_MINOR 8
-#define VERSION_PATCH -1
+#define VERSION_PATCH 0
 // This one is for display purpose and to check ABI compatibility of modules
-#define VERSION_STR "1.8.x"
+#define VERSION_STR "1.8.0"
 #endif
 
 // Don't use this one