diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c8899a585..27126e51a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 ## Changelog
 
+### v0.17.0-rc.1
+- Add CAP_SYS_ADMIN if volume-mounts list strategy is included
+- Remove unneeded DEVICE_PLUGIN_MODE envvar
+- Fix applying SELinux label for MPS
+- Use a base image that aligns with the ubi-minimal base image
+- Switch to a ubi9-based base image
+- Remove namespace field from cluster-scoped resources
+- Generate labels for IMEX cligue and domain
+- Add optional injection of the default IMEX channel
+- Allow kubelet-socket to be specified as command line argument
+
 ### v0.16.2
 - Add CAP_SYS_ADMIN if volume-mounts list strategy is included (fixes #856)
 - Remove unneeded DEVICE_PLUGIN_MODE envvar
diff --git a/deployments/helm/nvidia-device-plugin/Chart.yaml b/deployments/helm/nvidia-device-plugin/Chart.yaml
index 00a78e7ea..9b1f0da27 100644
--- a/deployments/helm/nvidia-device-plugin/Chart.yaml
+++ b/deployments/helm/nvidia-device-plugin/Chart.yaml
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ apiVersion: v2
 name: nvidia-device-plugin
 type: application
 description: A Helm chart for the nvidia-device-plugin on Kubernetes
-version: "0.16.2"
-appVersion: "0.16.2"
+version: "0.17.0-rc.1"
+appVersion: "0.17.0-rc.1"
 kubeVersion: ">= 1.10.0-0"
 home: https://github.com/NVIDIA/k8s-device-plugin
 
diff --git a/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-daemonset-with-mig-mixed.yaml b/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-daemonset-with-mig-mixed.yaml
index 657f504d9..0db8c1a90 100644
--- a/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-daemonset-with-mig-mixed.yaml
+++ b/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-daemonset-with-mig-mixed.yaml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ metadata:
   name: gpu-feature-discovery
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: gpu-feature-discovery
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.16.2
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.17.0-rc.1
     app.kubernetes.io/part-of: nvidia-gpu
 spec:
   selector:
@@ -15,11 +15,11 @@ spec:
     metadata:
       labels:
         app.kubernetes.io/name: gpu-feature-discovery
-        app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.16.2
+        app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.17.0-rc.1
         app.kubernetes.io/part-of: nvidia-gpu
     spec:
       containers:
-        - image: nvcr.io/nvidia/k8s-device-plugin:v0.16.2
+        - image: nvcr.io/nvidia/k8s-device-plugin:v0.17.0-rc.1
           name: gpu-feature-discovery
           command: ["/usr/bin/gpu-feature-discovery"]
           volumeMounts:
diff --git a/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-daemonset-with-mig-single.yaml b/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-daemonset-with-mig-single.yaml
index 0fe645a38..0c431149b 100644
--- a/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-daemonset-with-mig-single.yaml
+++ b/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-daemonset-with-mig-single.yaml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ metadata:
   name: gpu-feature-discovery
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: gpu-feature-discovery
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.16.2
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.17.0-rc.1
     app.kubernetes.io/part-of: nvidia-gpu
 spec:
   selector:
@@ -15,11 +15,11 @@ spec:
     metadata:
       labels:
         app.kubernetes.io/name: gpu-feature-discovery
-        app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.16.2
+        app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.17.0-rc.1
         app.kubernetes.io/part-of: nvidia-gpu
     spec:
       containers:
-        - image: nvcr.io/nvidia/k8s-device-plugin:v0.16.2
+        - image: nvcr.io/nvidia/k8s-device-plugin:v0.17.0-rc.1
           name: gpu-feature-discovery
           command: ["/usr/bin/gpu-feature-discovery"]
           volumeMounts:
diff --git a/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-daemonset.yaml b/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-daemonset.yaml
index 74de881a3..b0e2d107e 100644
--- a/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-daemonset.yaml
+++ b/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-daemonset.yaml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ metadata:
   name: gpu-feature-discovery
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: gpu-feature-discovery
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.16.2
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.17.0-rc.1
     app.kubernetes.io/part-of: nvidia-gpu
 spec:
   selector:
@@ -15,11 +15,11 @@ spec:
     metadata:
       labels:
         app.kubernetes.io/name: gpu-feature-discovery
-        app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.16.2
+        app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.17.0-rc.1
         app.kubernetes.io/part-of: nvidia-gpu
     spec:
       containers:
-        - image: nvcr.io/nvidia/k8s-device-plugin:v0.16.2
+        - image: nvcr.io/nvidia/k8s-device-plugin:v0.17.0-rc.1
           name: gpu-feature-discovery
           command: ["/usr/bin/gpu-feature-discovery"]
           volumeMounts:
diff --git a/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-job.yaml.template b/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-job.yaml.template
index 7dfa6a61a..2b16d54a7 100644
--- a/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-job.yaml.template
+++ b/deployments/static/gpu-feature-discovery-job.yaml.template
@@ -4,19 +4,19 @@ metadata:
   name: gpu-feature-discovery
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: gpu-feature-discovery
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.16.2
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.17.0-rc.1
     app.kubernetes.io/part-of: nvidia-gpu
 spec:
   template:
     metadata:
       labels:
         app.kubernetes.io/name: gpu-feature-discovery
-        app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.16.2
+        app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.17.0-rc.1
         app.kubernetes.io/part-of: nvidia-gpu
     spec:
       nodeName: NODE_NAME
       containers:
-        - image: nvcr.io/nvidia/k8s-device-plugin:v0.16.2
+        - image: nvcr.io/nvidia/k8s-device-plugin:v0.17.0-rc.1
           name: gpu-feature-discovery
           command: ["/usr/bin/gpu-feature-discovery"]
           args:
diff --git a/deployments/static/nvidia-device-plugin-compat-with-cpumanager.yml b/deployments/static/nvidia-device-plugin-compat-with-cpumanager.yml
index 8ea696525..d6a08433d 100644
--- a/deployments/static/nvidia-device-plugin-compat-with-cpumanager.yml
+++ b/deployments/static/nvidia-device-plugin-compat-with-cpumanager.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ spec:
       # See https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/administer-cluster/guaranteed-scheduling-critical-addon-pods/
       priorityClassName: "system-node-critical"
       containers:
-      - image: nvcr.io/nvidia/k8s-device-plugin:v0.16.2
+      - image: nvcr.io/nvidia/k8s-device-plugin:v0.17.0-rc.1
         name: nvidia-device-plugin-ctr
         env:
           - name: FAIL_ON_INIT_ERROR
diff --git a/deployments/static/nvidia-device-plugin.yml b/deployments/static/nvidia-device-plugin.yml
index de1b31296..0f7ba220c 100644
--- a/deployments/static/nvidia-device-plugin.yml
+++ b/deployments/static/nvidia-device-plugin.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ spec:
       # See https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/administer-cluster/guaranteed-scheduling-critical-addon-pods/
       priorityClassName: "system-node-critical"
       containers:
-      - image: nvcr.io/nvidia/k8s-device-plugin:v0.16.2
+      - image: nvcr.io/nvidia/k8s-device-plugin:v0.17.0-rc.1
         name: nvidia-device-plugin-ctr
         env:
           - name: FAIL_ON_INIT_ERROR
diff --git a/versions.mk b/versions.mk
index ed950be7a..b7afb9650 100644
--- a/versions.mk
+++ b/versions.mk
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ MODULE := github.com/NVIDIA/$(DRIVER_NAME)
 
 REGISTRY ?= nvcr.io/nvidia
 
-VERSION ?= v0.16.2
+VERSION ?= v0.17.0-rc.1
 
 # vVERSION represents the version with a guaranteed v-prefix
 vVERSION := v$(VERSION:v%=%)