diff --git a/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild-test-a.yaml b/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild-test-a.yaml
index 990ce17f..476d9567 100644
--- a/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild-test-a.yaml
+++ b/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild-test-a.yaml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 timeout: 7200s # 2 hours
 substitutions:
-  _JAVA_SHARED_CONFIG_VERSION: '1.17.1-SNAPSHOT' # {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current}
+  _JAVA_SHARED_CONFIG_VERSION: '1.17.1-rc3' # {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current}
 
 steps:
   # GraalVM A build
diff --git a/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild-test-b.yaml b/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild-test-b.yaml
index 636c254e..313e7c2b 100644
--- a/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild-test-b.yaml
+++ b/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild-test-b.yaml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 timeout: 7200s # 2 hours
 substitutions:
-  _JAVA_SHARED_CONFIG_VERSION: '1.17.1-SNAPSHOT' # {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current}
+  _JAVA_SHARED_CONFIG_VERSION: '1.17.1-rc3' # {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current}
 
 steps:
   # GraalVM B build
diff --git a/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild-test-c.yaml b/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild-test-c.yaml
index d4188600..de286724 100644
--- a/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild-test-c.yaml
+++ b/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild-test-c.yaml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 timeout: 7200s # 2 hours
 substitutions:
-  _JAVA_SHARED_CONFIG_VERSION: '1.17.1-SNAPSHOT' # {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current}
+  _JAVA_SHARED_CONFIG_VERSION: '1.17.1-rc3' # {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current}
 
 steps:
   # GraalVM C build
diff --git a/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild.yaml b/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild.yaml
index 7f250f65..3fad6e79 100644
--- a/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild.yaml
+++ b/.cloudbuild/cloudbuild.yaml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 timeout: 7200s # 2 hours
 substitutions:
-  _JAVA_SHARED_CONFIG_VERSION: '1.17.1-SNAPSHOT' # {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current}
+  _JAVA_SHARED_CONFIG_VERSION: '1.17.1-rc3' # {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current}
   _IMAGE_REPOSITORY: us-docker.pkg.dev/java-graalvm-ci-prod/graalvm-integration-testing
   _COMMIT_HASH_TAG: infrastructure-public-image-${SHORT_SHA}
 steps:
diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..33262b65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+  ".": "1.17.1-rc3"
+}
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a33c6a06..6df7e52c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,31 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [1.17.1-rc3](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/compare/v1.17.1-rc2...v1.17.1-rc3) (2025-12-04)
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* correct typo in README.md ([cc28c7b](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/commit/cc28c7bcaaaf4067d01525b4d45e183c2d5a5553))
+
+## [1.17.1-rc2](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/compare/v1.17.1-rc1...v1.17.1-rc2) (2025-12-03)
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* update README to include protobuf test branch info ([abb3bb8](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/commit/abb3bb8998bab4ff8f307f9a6796723e66885bc6))
+
+## [1.17.1-rc1](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/compare/v1.17.0...v1.17.1-rc1) (2025-12-03)
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* (test) update release type to java-yoshi-monorepo ([f875818](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/commit/f8758188021b79ad4823ba3065f719dab5cee0d4))
+* add release manifest for version 1.18.1-rc1 ([fdece7e](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/commit/fdece7ec0aa578950a9ba552d9e08a871109a4ee))
+* Change release type from 'java-yoshi-monorepo' to 'java-yoshi' ([6af5bb7](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/commit/6af5bb782d9cf97ee4cb7363775f9b649a7c993d))
+* Update README with protobuf 4.x release candidate info ([#1049](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/issues/1049)) ([c651e2e](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/commit/c651e2e9bb8827c7aee3c812c01643242929063d))
+* update release version to 1.18.1-rc2 ([fcdf23a](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/commit/fcdf23aaae6be79b7af3b3b2e8a899e3a167e1d5))
+* use released version in manifest ([e5d38bc](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/commit/e5d38bc6b40fd37bc1f1a0c963d2bb6e8cc55fd7))
+
 ## [1.17.0](https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config/compare/v1.16.1...v1.17.0) (2025-10-10)
 
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9dc747a4..a64f59a1 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 # Google Cloud Shared Build Configs
 
+This is the protobuf-4.x-rc test branch.
+
 Shared Maven build configuration for Google Cloud Java client libraries.
 This is not intended for library users.
+This is the protobuf 4.x release candidate version of this library.
 
 [![Maven][maven-version-image]][maven-version-link]
 
diff --git a/java-shared-config/pom.xml b/java-shared-config/pom.xml
index f90152a7..822aa4a8 100644
--- a/java-shared-config/pom.xml
+++ b/java-shared-config/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-shared-config</artifactId>
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
-  <version>1.17.1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current} -->
+  <version>1.17.1-rc3</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current} -->
   <name>Google Cloud Shared Config</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config</url>
   <description>
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>native-image-shared-config</artifactId>
-    <version>1.17.1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current} -->
+    <version>1.17.1-rc3</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current} -->
     <relativePath>../native-image-shared-config</relativePath>
   </parent>
 
diff --git a/native-image-shared-config/pom.xml b/native-image-shared-config/pom.xml
index b670659a..9f30273d 100644
--- a/native-image-shared-config/pom.xml
+++ b/native-image-shared-config/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>native-image-shared-config</artifactId>
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
-  <version>1.17.1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current} -->
+  <version>1.17.1-rc3</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-shared-config:current} -->
   <name>Native Image Shared Config</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-shared-config</url>
   <description>
diff --git a/out b/out
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e214c0e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/out
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+Traceback (most recent call last):
+  File "/src/library_generation/cli/entry_point.py", line 266, in <module>
+    main()
+    ~~~~^^
+  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/click/core.py", line 1157, in __call__
+    return self.main(*args, **kwargs)
+           ~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/click/core.py", line 1078, in main
+    rv = self.invoke(ctx)
+  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/click/core.py", line 1688, in invoke
+    return _process_result(sub_ctx.command.invoke(sub_ctx))
+                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^
+  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/click/core.py", line 1434, in invoke
+    return ctx.invoke(self.callback, **ctx.params)
+           ~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/click/core.py", line 783, in invoke
+    return __callback(*args, **kwargs)
+  File "/src/library_generation/cli/entry_point.py", line 136, in generate
+    __generate_repo_impl(
+    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^
+        generation_config_path=generation_config_path,
+        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+    ...<4 lines>...
+        api_definitions_path=api_definitions_path,
+        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+    )
+    ^
+  File "/src/library_generation/cli/entry_point.py", line 177, in __generate_repo_impl
+    raise FileNotFoundError(
+        f"Generation config {generation_config_path} does not exist."
+    )
+FileNotFoundError: Generation config /workspace/generation_config.yaml does not exist.
diff --git a/release-please-config.json b/release-please-config.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d8f27e02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/release-please-config.json
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+{
+  "release-type": "java-yoshi",
+  "prerelease-type": "rc1",
+  "versioning": "prerelease",
+  "separate-pull-requests": false,
+  "include-component-in-tag": false,
+  "group-pull-request-title-pattern": "chore(${branch}): release ${version}",
+  "prerelease": true,
+  "packages": {
+    ".": {
+      "extra-files": [
+        ".cloudbuild/cloudbuild.yaml", 
+        ".cloudbuild/cloudbuild-test-a.yaml", 
+        ".cloudbuild/cloudbuild-test-b.yaml", 
+        ".cloudbuild/cloudbuild-test-c.yaml" 
+      ]
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/versions.txt b/versions.txt
index b8805759..439fe2e7 100644
--- a/versions.txt
+++ b/versions.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # Format:
 # module:released-version:current-version
 
-google-cloud-shared-config:1.17.0:1.17.1-SNAPSHOT
+google-cloud-shared-config:1.17.1-rc3:1.17.1-rc3