diff --git a/build/release b/build/release
index 650755b48..907b3fb0b 100755
--- a/build/release
+++ b/build/release
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ BINDIR=File.dirname(__FILE__)
 
 CURRENT_REV=`#{BINDIR}/current_rev`
 
-if !( ($version = ARGV[0]) && $version =~ /\d+\.\d+\.\d+/)
+if !( ($version = ARGV[0]) && $version =~ /^\d+\.\d+\.\d+(-\w+)?$/)
   message =  "usage: #{$0} VERSION\n"
   message += "  (current version is #{CURRENT_REV})"
   abort(message)
diff --git a/docs/docs/bootstrapping.md b/docs/docs/bootstrapping.md
index bac21626c..0665d9e4a 100644
--- a/docs/docs/bootstrapping.md
+++ b/docs/docs/bootstrapping.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-*Maxwell's bootstrapping is available in the [1.0.0-RC2 release](https://github.com/zendesk/maxwell/releases/tag/v1.0.0-RC2)*
+*Maxwell's bootstrapping is available in the [1.0.0-RC3 release](https://github.com/zendesk/maxwell/releases/tag/v1.0.0-RC3)*
 
 ### Using the maxwell-bootstrap utility
 ***
diff --git a/docs/site/bootstrapping/index.html b/docs/site/bootstrapping/index.html
index 9f2d41afd..30dd34e39 100644
--- a/docs/site/bootstrapping/index.html
+++ b/docs/site/bootstrapping/index.html
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@
 </div></div>
             <div class="col-md-10" role="main">
 
-<p><em>Maxwell's bootstrapping is available in the <a href="https://github.com/zendesk/maxwell/releases/tag/v1.0.0-RC2">1.0.0-RC2 release</a></em></p>
+<p><em>Maxwell's bootstrapping is available in the <a href="https://github.com/zendesk/maxwell/releases/tag/v1.0.0-RC3">1.0.0-RC3 release</a></em></p>
 <h3 id="using-the-maxwell-bootstrap-utility">Using the maxwell-bootstrap utility</h3>
 <hr />
 <p>You can use the <code>maxwell-bootstrap</code> utility to bootstrap tables from the command-line.</p>
diff --git a/docs/site/mkdocs/search_index.json b/docs/site/mkdocs/search_index.json
index ec9f41553..957e4e59e 100644
--- a/docs/site/mkdocs/search_index.json
+++ b/docs/site/mkdocs/search_index.json
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
         }, 
         {
             "location": "/bootstrapping/", 
-            "text": "Maxwell's bootstrapping is available in the \n1.0.0-RC2 release\n\n\nUsing the maxwell-bootstrap utility\n\n\n\n\nYou can use the \nmaxwell-bootstrap\n utility to bootstrap tables from the command-line.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\noption\n\n\ndescription\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n--log_level LOG_LEVEL\n\n\nlog level (DEBUG, INFO, WARN or ERROR)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n--user USER\n\n\nmysql username\n\n\n\n\n\n\n--password PASSWORD\n\n\nmysql password\n\n\n\n\n\n\n--host HOST\n\n\nmysql host\n\n\n\n\n\n\n--port PORT\n\n\nmysql port\n\n\n\n\n\n\n--database DATABASE\n\n\nmysql database containing the table to bootstrap\n\n\n\n\n\n\n--table TABLE\n\n\nmysql table to bootstrap\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nUsing the maxwell.bootstrap table\n\n\n\n\nAlternatively you can insert a row in the \nmaxwell.bootstrap\n table to trigger a bootstrap.\n\n\nmysql\n insert into maxwell.bootstrap (database_name, table_name) values ('fooDB', 'barTable');\n\n\n\n\nAsync vs Sync bootstrapping\n\n\n\n\nThe Maxwell replicator is single threaded; events are captured by one thread from the binlog and replicated to Kafka one message at a time.\nWhen running Maxwell with \n--bootstrapper=sync\n, the same thread is used to do bootstrapping, meaning that all binlog events are blocked until bootstrapping is complete.\nRunning Maxwell with \n--bootstrapper=async\n however, will make Maxwell spawn a separate thread for bootstrapping.\nIn this async mode, non-bootstrapped tables are replicated as normal by the main thread, while the binlog events for bootstrapped tables are queued and sent to the replication stream at the end of the bootstrap process.\n\n\nBootstrapping Data Format\n\n\n\n\n\n\na bootstrap starts with a document with \ntype = \"bootstrap-start\"\n\n\nthen documents with \ntype = \"insert\"\n (one per row in the table)\n\n\nthen one document per \nINSERT\n, \nUPDATE\n or \nDELETE\n that occurred since the beginning of bootstrap\n\n\nfinally a document with \ntype = \"bootstrap-complete\"\n\n\n\n\nHere's a complete example:\n\n\nmysql\n create table fooDB.barTable(txt varchar(255));\nmysql\n insert into fooDB.barTable (txt) values (\nhello\n), (\nbootstrap!\n);\nmysql\n insert into maxwell.bootstrap (database_name, table_name) values (\nfooDB\n, \nbarTable\n);\n\n\n\n\nCorresponding replication stream output of table \nfooDB.barTable\n:\n\n\n{\ndatabase\n:\nfooDB\n,\ntable\n:\nbarTable\n,\ntype\n:\ninsert\n,\nts\n:1450557598,\nxid\n:13,\ndata\n:{\ntxt\n:\nhello\n}}\n{\ndatabase\n:\nfooDB\n,\ntable\n:\nbarTable\n,\ntype\n:\ninsert\n,\nts\n:1450557598,\nxid\n:13,\ndata\n:{\ntxt\n:\nbootstrap!\n}}\n{\ndatabase\n:\nfooDB\n,\ntable\n:\nbarTable\n,\ntype\n:\nbootstrap-start\n,\nts\n:1450557744,\ndata\n:{}}\n{\ndatabase\n:\nfooDB\n,\ntable\n:\nbarTable\n,\ntype\n:\nbootstrap-insert\n,\nts\n:1450557744,\ndata\n:{\ntxt\n:\nhello\n}}\n{\ndatabase\n:\nfooDB\n,\ntable\n:\nbarTable\n,\ntype\n:\nbootstrap-insert\n,\nts\n:1450557744,\ndata\n:{\ntxt\n:\nbootstrap!\n}}\n{\ndatabase\n:\nfooDB\n,\ntable\n:\nbarTable\n,\ntype\n:\nbootstrap-complete\n,\nts\n:1450557744,\ndata\n:{}}\n\n\n\n\n\n  jQuery(document).ready(function () {\n    jQuery(\"table\").addClass(\"table table-condensed table-bordered table-hover\");\n  });", 
+            "text": "Maxwell's bootstrapping is available in the \n1.0.0-RC3 release\n\n\nUsing the maxwell-bootstrap utility\n\n\n\n\nYou can use the \nmaxwell-bootstrap\n utility to bootstrap tables from the command-line.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\noption\n\n\ndescription\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n--log_level LOG_LEVEL\n\n\nlog level (DEBUG, INFO, WARN or ERROR)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n--user USER\n\n\nmysql username\n\n\n\n\n\n\n--password PASSWORD\n\n\nmysql password\n\n\n\n\n\n\n--host HOST\n\n\nmysql host\n\n\n\n\n\n\n--port PORT\n\n\nmysql port\n\n\n\n\n\n\n--database DATABASE\n\n\nmysql database containing the table to bootstrap\n\n\n\n\n\n\n--table TABLE\n\n\nmysql table to bootstrap\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nUsing the maxwell.bootstrap table\n\n\n\n\nAlternatively you can insert a row in the \nmaxwell.bootstrap\n table to trigger a bootstrap.\n\n\nmysql\n insert into maxwell.bootstrap (database_name, table_name) values ('fooDB', 'barTable');\n\n\n\n\nAsync vs Sync bootstrapping\n\n\n\n\nThe Maxwell replicator is single threaded; events are captured by one thread from the binlog and replicated to Kafka one message at a time.\nWhen running Maxwell with \n--bootstrapper=sync\n, the same thread is used to do bootstrapping, meaning that all binlog events are blocked until bootstrapping is complete.\nRunning Maxwell with \n--bootstrapper=async\n however, will make Maxwell spawn a separate thread for bootstrapping.\nIn this async mode, non-bootstrapped tables are replicated as normal by the main thread, while the binlog events for bootstrapped tables are queued and sent to the replication stream at the end of the bootstrap process.\n\n\nBootstrapping Data Format\n\n\n\n\n\n\na bootstrap starts with a document with \ntype = \"bootstrap-start\"\n\n\nthen documents with \ntype = \"insert\"\n (one per row in the table)\n\n\nthen one document per \nINSERT\n, \nUPDATE\n or \nDELETE\n that occurred since the beginning of bootstrap\n\n\nfinally a document with \ntype = \"bootstrap-complete\"\n\n\n\n\nHere's a complete example:\n\n\nmysql\n create table fooDB.barTable(txt varchar(255));\nmysql\n insert into fooDB.barTable (txt) values (\nhello\n), (\nbootstrap!\n);\nmysql\n insert into maxwell.bootstrap (database_name, table_name) values (\nfooDB\n, \nbarTable\n);\n\n\n\n\nCorresponding replication stream output of table \nfooDB.barTable\n:\n\n\n{\ndatabase\n:\nfooDB\n,\ntable\n:\nbarTable\n,\ntype\n:\ninsert\n,\nts\n:1450557598,\nxid\n:13,\ndata\n:{\ntxt\n:\nhello\n}}\n{\ndatabase\n:\nfooDB\n,\ntable\n:\nbarTable\n,\ntype\n:\ninsert\n,\nts\n:1450557598,\nxid\n:13,\ndata\n:{\ntxt\n:\nbootstrap!\n}}\n{\ndatabase\n:\nfooDB\n,\ntable\n:\nbarTable\n,\ntype\n:\nbootstrap-start\n,\nts\n:1450557744,\ndata\n:{}}\n{\ndatabase\n:\nfooDB\n,\ntable\n:\nbarTable\n,\ntype\n:\nbootstrap-insert\n,\nts\n:1450557744,\ndata\n:{\ntxt\n:\nhello\n}}\n{\ndatabase\n:\nfooDB\n,\ntable\n:\nbarTable\n,\ntype\n:\nbootstrap-insert\n,\nts\n:1450557744,\ndata\n:{\ntxt\n:\nbootstrap!\n}}\n{\ndatabase\n:\nfooDB\n,\ntable\n:\nbarTable\n,\ntype\n:\nbootstrap-complete\n,\nts\n:1450557744,\ndata\n:{}}\n\n\n\n\n\n  jQuery(document).ready(function () {\n    jQuery(\"table\").addClass(\"table table-condensed table-bordered table-hover\");\n  });", 
             "title": "Bootstrapping"
         }, 
         {
diff --git a/docs/site/sitemap.xml b/docs/site/sitemap.xml
index 023d30384..316de9b8b 100644
--- a/docs/site/sitemap.xml
+++ b/docs/site/sitemap.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     
     <url>
      <loc>None/</loc>
-     <lastmod>2016-02-20</lastmod>
+     <lastmod>2016-03-07</lastmod>
      <changefreq>daily</changefreq>
     </url>
     
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
     
     <url>
      <loc>None/quickstart/</loc>
-     <lastmod>2016-02-20</lastmod>
+     <lastmod>2016-03-07</lastmod>
      <changefreq>daily</changefreq>
     </url>
     
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
     
     <url>
      <loc>None/config/</loc>
-     <lastmod>2016-02-20</lastmod>
+     <lastmod>2016-03-07</lastmod>
      <changefreq>daily</changefreq>
     </url>
     
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
     
     <url>
      <loc>None/kafka/</loc>
-     <lastmod>2016-02-20</lastmod>
+     <lastmod>2016-03-07</lastmod>
      <changefreq>daily</changefreq>
     </url>
     
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
     
     <url>
      <loc>None/dataformat/</loc>
-     <lastmod>2016-02-20</lastmod>
+     <lastmod>2016-03-07</lastmod>
      <changefreq>daily</changefreq>
     </url>
     
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
     
     <url>
      <loc>None/bootstrapping/</loc>
-     <lastmod>2016-02-20</lastmod>
+     <lastmod>2016-03-07</lastmod>
      <changefreq>daily</changefreq>
     </url>
     
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
     
     <url>
      <loc>None/compat/</loc>
-     <lastmod>2016-02-20</lastmod>
+     <lastmod>2016-03-07</lastmod>
      <changefreq>daily</changefreq>
     </url>
     
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index f268cfb86..d26bbcec4 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
   <groupId>com.zendesk</groupId>
   <artifactId>maxwell</artifactId>
-  <version>1.0.0-RC2</version>
+  <version>1.0.0-RC3</version>
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
 
   <name>maxwell</name>