diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug-report.yml b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug-report.yml
index 12fd5d578..81024ad59 100644
--- a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug-report.yml
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug-report.yml
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@ body:
     label: "XDG Desktop Portal version"
     description: "What version of XDG Desktop Portal are you using?"
     options:
-    - "1.21"
+    - "main"
+    - "2"
     - "1.20"
-    - "1.18"
     - Git
     - Other
   validations:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index f0a4cf994..cd9f74402 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ name: Release new version
 on:
   push:
     tags:
-      - '[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+'
+      - '[0-9]+\.[a-z0-9]+'
 
 jobs:
   build-container:
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ jobs:
           echo $releaseChangelog
 
           # Check if version is a pre-release
-          preRelease=$((`echo $releaseVersion | cut -d '.' -f2` % 2))
+          preRelease=$([[ $releaseVersion =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; echo $?)
           {
             echo -n "preRelease="
             if [ $preRelease = 1 ] || [ $preRelease = "true" ]; then
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 5f6c20d25..92d9038ee 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-Changes in 1.21.0
-=================
-Released: Not yet
+Changes in 2.rc0
+================
+Released: 2025-08-19
 
 ...
 
diff --git a/RELEASE_HOWTO.md b/RELEASE_HOWTO.md
index 9eb223589..00c314e74 100644
--- a/RELEASE_HOWTO.md
+++ b/RELEASE_HOWTO.md
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 ### Prepare the release
 
-- Make sure the version in `meson.build` is correct
 - Create a branch
 ```sh
 $ git checkout -b release-${version}
@@ -13,30 +12,38 @@ $ ninja -C ${builddir} xdg-desktop-portal-update-po
 $ git add po/
 $ git commit -m "Update translations"
 ```
-- If this is the first release of a new stable release series, update
-  `SECURITY.md`. It should list the development branch, new stable branch, and
-  old stable branch as currently maintained.
-- Add your changelog to the `NEWS.md` file
-```sh
-$ git add NEWS.md
-$ git commit -m ${version}
+- Update `.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug-report.yml`. It should list `main`, and the
+  new currently maintained major releases, under "XDG Desktop Portal version".
+- Update version number in `meson.build` to the next version
+- If this is a major release, update `SECURITY.md`. It should list the
+  development version, the current version, and the previous, still maintained
+  version.
+- Add your changelog to a new section in the `NEWS.md` file
+```md
+Changes in ${version}
+=================
+Released: ${date}
+
+...
 ```
-- Push your branch
+- Commit changes and push your branch
 ```sh
+$ git add ...
+$ git commit -m ${version}
 $ git push -u ${fork} release-${version}
 ```
-- Open a pull request
-
-- Merge the pull request and wait for it to reach the `main` branch or the
-  stable branch
+- Open a pull request against the `main` branch for a major release, or the
+  major release branch (e.g. `xdg-desktop-portal-4`) for a minor release
+- Merge the pull request and wait for it to get merged and CI to succeed
 
 ### Create a Signed Tag
 
 **NOTE**: Only project maintainers can create a tag.
 
 Make sure that:
- - You're on the `main` branch, or a stable branch;
- - The tip of the branch is a release commit (e.g. `1.19.4`)
+ - You're on the correct branch (`main` or a major release branch)
+ - The tip of the branch is a release commit (e.g. `4` on the `main` branch,
+   or `5.1` on a major release branch)
  - The version in `meson.build` is correct
 
 Then create the tag:
@@ -49,30 +56,8 @@ $ git push -u origin ${version}
 Copy paste the release notes from NEWS.md into the tag message when running
 `git evtag`.
 
-### Post-Release
-
-- Update version number in `meson.build` to the next release version
-- Start a new section in `NEWS.md`
-```md
-Changes in ${nextVersion}
-=================
-Released: Not yet
-
-...
-```
-
-- Commit the changes as "Post-release version bump" and push to the
-  corresponding branch
-
-### Post-Branching
+### Branching
 
-After creating a stable branch:
- 
-- Update version number in `meson.build` to the next unstable release version.
-  For example if the created stable branch name is xdg-desktop-portal-1.N, bump
-  the version to 1.N+1.0. Commit as "Post-branching version bump".
-- Update `.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug-report.yml`. It should list the
-  development version, and the currently maintained stable versions, under "XDG
-  Desktop Portal version".
-- Update the pending entry in NEWS.md to refer to the next unstable version.
-- Push changes to the `main` branch.
+When appropriate (usually a bit after a major release), create a release branch
+(e.g. `xdg-desktop-portal-4` for the major version 4 series) and resume feature
+development on the `main` branch.
diff --git a/SECURITY.md b/SECURITY.md
index bc5f66fdc..47426cfd1 100644
--- a/SECURITY.md
+++ b/SECURITY.md
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ please check
 
 | Version   | Supported          | Status
 | --------  | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
-| 1.21.x    | :white_check_mark: | Development branch, releases may include non-security changes |
+| 2.rc0     | :white_check_mark: | Development branch, releases may include non-security changes |
 | 1.20.x    | :white_check_mark: | Stable branch, recommended for use in distributions           |
 | 1.18.x    | :white_check_mark: | Old stable branch, still maintained                           |
 | <= 1.16.x | :x:                | Older branches, no longer supported                           |
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index b4ea8311a..9fbaff34d 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 project(
   'xdg-desktop-portal',
   'c',
-  version: '1.21.0',
+  version: '2.rc0',
   meson_version: '>= 0.60',
   license: 'LGPL-2.0-or-later',
   default_options: [