diff --git a/api/version/version.go b/api/version/version.go
index ef3c09e7c115..c622437460c0 100644
--- a/api/version/version.go
+++ b/api/version/version.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import (
 var (
 	// MinClusterVersion is the min cluster version this etcd binary is compatible with.
 	MinClusterVersion = "3.0.0"
-	Version           = "3.6.0-alpha.0"
+	Version           = "3.6.0-rc.0"
 	APIVersion        = "unknown"
 
 	// Git SHA Value will be set during build
diff --git a/client/internal/v2/go.mod b/client/internal/v2/go.mod
index 1c3a0b2c3ef6..b97b8478319b 100644
--- a/client/internal/v2/go.mod
+++ b/client/internal/v2/go.mod
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ toolchain go1.23.6
 
 require (
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
 	sigs.k8s.io/json v0.0.0-20211020170558-c049b76a60c6
 )
 
diff --git a/client/v3/go.mod b/client/v3/go.mod
index 4e86a11081b5..9cb338003962 100644
--- a/client/v3/go.mod
+++ b/client/v3/go.mod
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ require (
 	github.com/grpc-ecosystem/go-grpc-middleware/providers/prometheus v1.0.1
 	github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.20.5
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
 	go.uber.org/zap v1.27.0
 	google.golang.org/grpc v1.70.0
 	sigs.k8s.io/yaml v1.4.0
diff --git a/etcdctl/go.mod b/etcdctl/go.mod
index 4e2c3f4a41c8..95d96c1cb295 100644
--- a/etcdctl/go.mod
+++ b/etcdctl/go.mod
@@ -12,10 +12,10 @@ require (
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.8.1
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.6
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
 	go.uber.org/zap v1.27.0
 	golang.org/x/time v0.9.0
 	google.golang.org/grpc v1.70.0
diff --git a/etcdutl/go.mod b/etcdutl/go.mod
index a6579c1c962b..da7b1c146240 100644
--- a/etcdutl/go.mod
+++ b/etcdutl/go.mod
@@ -28,11 +28,11 @@ require (
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.8.1
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0
 	go.etcd.io/bbolt v1.4.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/server/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/server/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
 	go.etcd.io/raft/v3 v3.6.0
 	go.uber.org/zap v1.27.0
 )
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.6 // indirect
 	github.com/tmc/grpc-websocket-proxy v0.0.0-20201229170055-e5319fda7802 // indirect
 	github.com/xiang90/probing v0.0.0-20190116061207-43a291ad63a2 // indirect
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v2 v2.306.0-alpha.0 // indirect
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v2 v2.306.0-rc.0 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/auto/sdk v1.1.0 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/google.golang.org/grpc/otelgrpc v0.59.0 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel v1.34.0 // indirect
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index d3479a985c45..bdb0e888d01e 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -24,15 +24,15 @@ require (
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.8.1
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0
 	go.etcd.io/bbolt v1.4.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v2 v2.306.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/etcdctl/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/etcdutl/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/server/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/tests/v3 v3.0.0-00010101000000-000000000000
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v2 v2.306.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/etcdctl/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/etcdutl/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/server/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/tests/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
 	go.etcd.io/raft/v3 v3.6.0
 	go.uber.org/zap v1.27.0
 	golang.org/x/time v0.9.0
diff --git a/pkg/go.mod b/pkg/go.mod
index 9180151681d6..8cf5f4c39838 100644
--- a/pkg/go.mod
+++ b/pkg/go.mod
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.8.1
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.6
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
 	go.uber.org/zap v1.27.0
 	google.golang.org/grpc v1.70.0
 )
diff --git a/server/go.mod b/server/go.mod
index 20d84a62c780..d3e08d24b79f 100644
--- a/server/go.mod
+++ b/server/go.mod
@@ -26,11 +26,11 @@ require (
 	github.com/tmc/grpc-websocket-proxy v0.0.0-20201229170055-e5319fda7802
 	github.com/xiang90/probing v0.0.0-20190116061207-43a291ad63a2
 	go.etcd.io/bbolt v1.4.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v2 v2.306.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v2 v2.306.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
 	go.etcd.io/raft/v3 v3.6.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/google.golang.org/grpc/otelgrpc v0.59.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel v1.34.0
diff --git a/tests/go.mod b/tests/go.mod
index 41285fac31e1..83ecc0981cee 100644
--- a/tests/go.mod
+++ b/tests/go.mod
@@ -28,14 +28,14 @@ require (
 	github.com/prometheus/common v0.62.0
 	github.com/soheilhy/cmux v0.1.5
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v2 v2.306.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/etcdctl/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/etcdutl/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
-	go.etcd.io/etcd/server/v3 v3.6.0-alpha.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v2 v2.306.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/etcdctl/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/etcdutl/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/pkg/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
+	go.etcd.io/etcd/server/v3 v3.6.0-rc.0
 	go.etcd.io/gofail v0.2.0
 	go.etcd.io/raft/v3 v3.6.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/google.golang.org/grpc/otelgrpc v0.59.0