diff --git a/jupyter_server/_version.py b/jupyter_server/_version.py
index 65873b42a7..4c275a8b7d 100644
--- a/jupyter_server/_version.py
+++ b/jupyter_server/_version.py
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
 import re
 from typing import List
 
-# Version string must appear intact for tbump versioning
-__version__ = "2.1.0.dev0"
+# Version string must appear intact for automatic versioning
+__version__ = "2.0.0rc0"
 
 # Build up version_info tuple for backwards compatibility
 pattern = r"(?P<major>\d+).(?P<minor>\d+).(?P<patch>\d+)(?P<rest>.*)"
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 3a0ea9e21d..3d144195fd 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -119,7 +119,6 @@ skip = ["check-links"]
 before-build-python = ["npm install", "npm run build"]
 
 [tool.jupyter-releaser.options]
-post-version-spec = "dev"
 pydist_resource_paths = ["jupyter_server/static/style/bootstrap.min.css", "jupyter_server/static/style/bootstrap-theme.min.css"]