diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 63a295250f..503c2f0921 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,3 +1,17 @@
+2026.02-rc3, released March 2nd, 2026
+
+	Fixes all over the tree.
+
+	support/testing/run-tests: Work around a node2 patch in Debian
+	testing/unstable:
+	https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1129350
+
+	Updated/fixed packages: bind, botan, containerd, cups, gpsd,
+	flashbench, igmpproxy, imagemagick, libssh, libunistring,
+	libvirt, mesa3d, mupdf, openscap, patch, poco,
+	python-multipart, rtl_433, safeclib, samba4, tinyproxy,
+	udisks, webkitgtk, wireshark, wlroots, wpewebkit
+
 2026.02-rc2, released February 24th, 2026
 
 	Fixes all over the tree.
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 790ad6d297..04f915fd73 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -92,9 +92,9 @@ all:
 .PHONY: all
 
 # Set and export the version string
-export BR2_VERSION := 2026.02-rc2
+export BR2_VERSION := 2026.02-rc3
 # Actual time the release is cut (for reproducible builds)
-BR2_VERSION_EPOCH = 1771955000
+BR2_VERSION_EPOCH = 1772450000
 
 # Save running make version since it's clobbered by the make package
 RUNNING_MAKE_VERSION := $(MAKE_VERSION)
diff --git a/docs/website/download.html b/docs/website/download.html
index 9727bff3f9..9f4389098c 100644
--- a/docs/website/download.html
+++ b/docs/website/download.html
@@ -21,25 +21,25 @@
           <th>2026.02.x</th>
           <td>June 2026</td>
           <td>
-            2026.02-rc2<br/>
-            <a href="https://gitlab.com/buildroot.org/buildroot/-/blob/2026.02-rc2/CHANGES">
+            2026.02-rc3<br/>
+            <a href="https://gitlab.com/buildroot.org/buildroot/-/blob/2026.02-rc3/CHANGES">
               Changelog
             </a>
           </td>
-          <td>2026-02-24</td>
+          <td>2026-03-02</td>
           <td>
-            <a href="/downloads/buildroot-2026.02-rc2.tar.gz">
+            <a href="/downloads/buildroot-2026.02-rc3.tar.gz">
               <img src="images/zip.png" width="24" alt="">
               .tar.gz
             </a><br/>
-            <a href="/downloads/buildroot-2026.02-rc2.tar.gz.sign">[PGP sig]</a>
+            <a href="/downloads/buildroot-2026.02-rc3.tar.gz.sign">[PGP sig]</a>
           </td>
           <td>
-            <a href="/downloads/buildroot-2026.02-rc2.tar.xz">
+            <a href="/downloads/buildroot-2026.02-rc3.tar.xz">
               <img src="images/package.png" width="24" alt="">
               .tar.xz
             </a><br/>
-            <a href="/downloads/buildroot-2026.02-rc2.tar.xz.sign">[PGP sig]</a>
+            <a href="/downloads/buildroot-2026.02-rc3.tar.xz.sign">[PGP sig]</a>
           </td>
         </tr>
         <tr>
diff --git a/docs/website/news.html b/docs/website/news.html
index a8d9093468..8df3ba53bf 100644
--- a/docs/website/news.html
+++ b/docs/website/news.html
@@ -9,6 +9,27 @@
 <h2>News</h2>
 <ul class="timeline">
 
+  <li class="timeline-inverted">
+    <div class="timeline-badge"><i class="glyphicon glyphicon-thumbs-up"></i></div>
+    <div class="timeline-panel">
+      <div class="timeline-heading">
+	<h4 class="timeline-title">2026.02-rc3 released</h4>
+	<p><small class="text-muted"><i class="glyphicon glyphicon-time"></i>2 March 2026</small></p>
+      </div>
+      <div class="timeline-body">
+        <p>Another week, another release candidate with more cleanups and build fixes. See the
+	  <a href="https://gitlab.com/buildroot.org/buildroot/-/blob/2026.02-rc3/CHANGES">CHANGES</a>
+	  file for more details.</p>
+
+	<p>Go to the <a href="/downloads/">downloads page</a> to pick up the
+	  <a href="/downloads/buildroot-2026.02-rc3.tar.xz">2026.02-rc3
+	  release</a>, and report any problems found to the
+         <a href="support.html">mailing list</a> or
+         <a href="https://gitlab.com/buildroot.org/buildroot/-/issues">bug tracker</a>.</p>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  </li>
+
   <li>
     <div class="timeline-badge"><i class="glyphicon glyphicon-thumbs-up"></i></div>
     <div class="timeline-panel">