diff --git a/dotnet/Directory.Build.props b/dotnet/Directory.Build.props
index 751afab85104..452ceb8542ac 100644
--- a/dotnet/Directory.Build.props
+++ b/dotnet/Directory.Build.props
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@
     <ImplicitUsings>disable</ImplicitUsings>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <PropertyGroup>
+    <!-- In "main" branch this flag should be always "false". -->
+    <IsReleaseCandidate>true</IsReleaseCandidate>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+  
   <PropertyGroup>
     <!-- Disable NuGet packaging by default. Projects can override. -->
     <IsPackable>disable</IsPackable>
@@ -30,4 +35,4 @@
       <_Parameter1>false</_Parameter1>
     </AssemblyAttribute>
   </ItemGroup>
-</Project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</Project>
diff --git a/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props b/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props
index caecae748432..86b48afb495e 100644
--- a/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props
+++ b/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 <Project>
   <PropertyGroup>
     <!-- Central version prefix - applies to all nuget packages. -->
-    <VersionPrefix>1.16.2</VersionPrefix>
-
+    <VersionPrefix>1.18.0</VersionPrefix>
+    
     <PackageVersion Condition="'$(VersionSuffix)' != ''">$(VersionPrefix)-$(VersionSuffix)</PackageVersion>
     <PackageVersion Condition="'$(VersionSuffix)' == ''">$(VersionPrefix)</PackageVersion>
 
diff --git a/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.AzureOpenAI/Connectors.AzureOpenAI.csproj b/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.AzureOpenAI/Connectors.AzureOpenAI.csproj
index e4f5be3d533a..6c0d24c9ce12 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.AzureOpenAI/Connectors.AzureOpenAI.csproj
+++ b/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.AzureOpenAI/Connectors.AzureOpenAI.csproj
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@
     <EnablePackageValidation>false</EnablePackageValidation>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(IsReleaseCandidate)' == 'true'">
+    <VersionSuffix>rc</VersionSuffix>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+  
   <!-- IMPORT NUGET PACKAGE SHARED PROPERTIES -->
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props" />
 
diff --git a/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.OpenAI/Connectors.OpenAI.csproj b/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.OpenAI/Connectors.OpenAI.csproj
index ecd01d172e11..30b637922494 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.OpenAI/Connectors.OpenAI.csproj
+++ b/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.OpenAI/Connectors.OpenAI.csproj
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@
     <EnablePackageValidation>true</EnablePackageValidation>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(IsReleaseCandidate)' == 'true'">
+    <VersionSuffix>rc</VersionSuffix>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
   <!-- IMPORT NUGET PACKAGE SHARED PROPERTIES -->
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props" />
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/src/InternalUtilities/src/InternalUtilities.props" />
diff --git a/dotnet/src/Extensions/PromptTemplates.Handlebars/PromptTemplates.Handlebars.csproj b/dotnet/src/Extensions/PromptTemplates.Handlebars/PromptTemplates.Handlebars.csproj
index aa6f9eb848c8..d5e3b2fc9e4b 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/Extensions/PromptTemplates.Handlebars/PromptTemplates.Handlebars.csproj
+++ b/dotnet/src/Extensions/PromptTemplates.Handlebars/PromptTemplates.Handlebars.csproj
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@
     <EnablePackageValidation>true</EnablePackageValidation>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(IsReleaseCandidate)' == 'true'">
+    <VersionSuffix>rc</VersionSuffix>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props" />
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/src/InternalUtilities/src/InternalUtilities.props" />
 
diff --git a/dotnet/src/Functions/Functions.Yaml/Functions.Yaml.csproj b/dotnet/src/Functions/Functions.Yaml/Functions.Yaml.csproj
index dafc4377b0e0..4b4a5176cb36 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/Functions/Functions.Yaml/Functions.Yaml.csproj
+++ b/dotnet/src/Functions/Functions.Yaml/Functions.Yaml.csproj
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
     <EnablePackageValidation>true</EnablePackageValidation>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(IsReleaseCandidate)' == 'true'">
+    <VersionSuffix>rc</VersionSuffix>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props" />
   
   <PropertyGroup>
diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/SemanticKernel.Abstractions.csproj b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/SemanticKernel.Abstractions.csproj
index 81e196b63b91..2c2ed1b1aad1 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/SemanticKernel.Abstractions.csproj
+++ b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/SemanticKernel.Abstractions.csproj
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
     <EnablePackageValidation>true</EnablePackageValidation>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(IsReleaseCandidate)' == 'true'">
+    <VersionSuffix>rc</VersionSuffix>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+  
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props" />
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/src/InternalUtilities/src/InternalUtilities.props" />
 
diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Core/SemanticKernel.Core.csproj b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Core/SemanticKernel.Core.csproj
index 7eeee98743d5..ff9c1e8986c4 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Core/SemanticKernel.Core.csproj
+++ b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Core/SemanticKernel.Core.csproj
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@
     <EnablePackageValidation>true</EnablePackageValidation>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(IsReleaseCandidate)' == 'true'">
+    <VersionSuffix>rc</VersionSuffix>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props" />
 
   <PropertyGroup>
diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.MetaPackage/SemanticKernel.MetaPackage.csproj b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.MetaPackage/SemanticKernel.MetaPackage.csproj
index 7ac522bca663..86cbde81153c 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.MetaPackage/SemanticKernel.MetaPackage.csproj
+++ b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.MetaPackage/SemanticKernel.MetaPackage.csproj
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@
     <RootNamespace>$(AssemblyName)</RootNamespace>
     <TargetFrameworks>net8.0;netstandard2.0</TargetFrameworks>
   </PropertyGroup>
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(IsReleaseCandidate)' == 'true'">
+    <VersionSuffix>rc</VersionSuffix>
+  </PropertyGroup>
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props" />
   <PropertyGroup>
     <!-- NuGet Package Settings -->
@@ -15,4 +18,4 @@ Empowers app owners to integrate cutting-edge LLM technology quickly and easily
     <ProjectReference Include="..\SemanticKernel.Core\SemanticKernel.Core.csproj" PrivateAssets="none" />
     <ProjectReference Include="..\Connectors\Connectors.AzureOpenAI\Connectors.AzureOpenAI.csproj" />
   </ItemGroup>
-</Project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</Project>