diff --git a/Changelog.txt b/Changelog.txt
index a14691592a..5255cc1980 100644
--- a/Changelog.txt
+++ b/Changelog.txt
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 # - title by author
 # }}}
 
-{{{ 6.18.0 2023-05-26
+{{{ 6.18.1 2023-05-26
 
 :: new features
 
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@
 
 - [2018548] Fix a regression in the previous release that broke the category manager dialog in some situations
 
+- 6.18.1 fixes a regression that broke setting metadata and generating PDF files in the macOS and Linux binary builds
+
 
 :: improved recipes
 - NYTimes
diff --git a/src/calibre/constants.py b/src/calibre/constants.py
index ce1539c382..fab7220d8f 100644
--- a/src/calibre/constants.py
+++ b/src/calibre/constants.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ from functools import lru_cache
 import sys, locale, codecs, os, collections, collections.abc
 
 __appname__   = 'calibre'
-numeric_version = (6, 18, 0)
+numeric_version = (6, 18, 1)
 __version__   = '.'.join(map(str, numeric_version))
 git_version   = None
 __author__    = "Kovid Goyal <kovid@kovidgoyal.net>"