diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 511e3eff36b..88b27c24bd4 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,14 +1,5 @@
-Release 5.3.0 (in development)
-==============================
-
-Dependencies
-------------
-
-Incompatible changes
---------------------
-
-Deprecated
-----------
+Release 5.3.0 (released Oct 16, 2022)
+=====================================
 
 Features added
 --------------
@@ -24,12 +15,6 @@ Features added
 * #10887: domains: Allow sections in all the content of all object description
   directives (e.g. :rst:dir:`py:function`). Patch by Adam Turner
 
-Bugs fixed
-----------
-
-Testing
---------
-
 Release 5.2.3 (released Sep 30, 2022)
 =====================================
 
diff --git a/sphinx/__init__.py b/sphinx/__init__.py
index 1bb90ed1bfb..08ccfd14100 100644
--- a/sphinx/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinx/__init__.py
@@ -30,11 +30,11 @@
 #:
 #: .. versionadded:: 1.2
 #:    Before version 1.2, check the string ``sphinx.__version__``.
-version_info = (5, 3, 0, 'beta', 0)
+version_info = (5, 3, 0, 'final', 0)
 
 package_dir = path.abspath(path.dirname(__file__))
 
-_in_development = True
+_in_development = False
 if _in_development:
     # Only import subprocess if needed
     import subprocess