diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 5f2a4a41eb..1f77fab960 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,72 @@
+Synapse 1.81.0rc1 (2023-04-04)
+==============================
+
+Features
+--------
+
+- Add the ability to enable/disable registrations when in the OIDC flow. ([\#14978](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/14978))
+- Add a primitive helper script for listing worker endpoints. ([\#15243](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15243))
+- Experimental support for passing One Time Key and device key requests to application services ([MSC3983](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3983) and [MSC3984](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3984)). ([\#15314](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15314), [\#15321](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15321))
+- Allow loading `/password_policy` endpoint on workers. ([\#15331](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15331))
+- Build Debian packages for Ubuntu 23.04 (Lunar Lobster). ([\#15381](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15381))
+
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+- Fix a long-standing bug where edits of non-`m.room.message` events would not be correctly bundled. ([\#15295](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15295))
+- Fix a bug introduced in Synapse v1.55.0 which could delay remote homeservers being able to decrypt encrypted messages sent by local users. ([\#15297](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15297))
+- Add a check to [SQLite port_db script](https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/postgres.html#porting-from-sqlite)
+  to ensure that the sqlite database passed to the script exists before trying to port from it. ([\#15306](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15306))
+- Fix a bug introduced in Synapse 1.76.0 where responses from worker deployments could include an internal `_INT_STREAM_POS` key. ([\#15309](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15309))
+- Fix a long-standing bug that Synpase only used the [legacy appservice routes](https://spec.matrix.org/v1.6/application-service-api/#legacy-routes). ([\#15317](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15317))
+- Fix a long-standing bug preventing users from joining rooms, that they had been unbanned from, over federation. Contributed by Nico. ([\#15323](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15323))
+- Fix bug in worker mode where on a rolling restart of workers the "typing" worker would consume 100% CPU until it got restarted. ([\#15332](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15332))
+- Fix a long-standing bug where some to_device messages could be dropped when using workers. ([\#15349](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15349))
+- Fix a bug introduced in Synapse 1.70.0 where the background sync from a faster join could spin for hours when one of the events involved had been marked for backoff. ([\#15351](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15351))
+- Fix missing app variable in mail subject for password resets. Contributed by Cyberes. ([\#15352](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15352))
+- Fix a rare bug introduced in Synapse 1.66.0 where initial syncs would fail when the user had been kicked from a faster joined room that had not finished syncing. ([\#15383](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15383))
+
+
+Improved Documentation
+----------------------
+
+- Fix a typo in login requests ratelimit defaults. ([\#15341](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15341))
+- Note that Synapse 1.74 queued a rebuild of the user directory tables. ([\#15386](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15386))
+
+
+Internal Changes
+----------------
+
+- Use `immutabledict` instead of `frozendict`. ([\#15113](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15113))
+- Add developer documentation for the Federation Sender and add a documentation mechanism using Sphinx. ([\#15265](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15265), [\#15336](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15336))
+- Make the pushers rely on the `device_id` instead of the `access_token_id` for various operations. ([\#15280](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15280))
+- Bump sentry-sdk from 1.15.0 to 1.17.0. ([\#15285](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15285))
+- Allow running the Twisted trunk job against other branches. ([\#15302](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15302))
+- Remind the releaser to ask for changelog feedback in [#synapse-dev](https://matrix.to/#/#synapse-dev:matrix.org). ([\#15303](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15303))
+- Bump dtolnay/rust-toolchain from e12eda571dc9a5ee5d58eecf4738ec291c66f295 to fc3253060d0c959bea12a59f10f8391454a0b02d. ([\#15304](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15304))
+- Reject events with an invalid "mentions" property pert [MSC3952](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3952). ([\#15311](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15311))
+- As an optimisation, use `TRUNCATE` on Postgres when clearing the user directory tables. ([\#15316](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15316))
+- Fix `.gitignore` rule for the Complement source tarball downloaded automatically by `complement.sh`. ([\#15319](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15319))
+- Bump serde from 1.0.157 to 1.0.158. ([\#15324](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15324))
+- Bump regex from 1.7.1 to 1.7.3. ([\#15325](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15325))
+- Bump types-pyopenssl from 23.0.0.4 to 23.1.0.0. ([\#15326](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15326))
+- Bump furo from 2022.12.7 to 2023.3.23. ([\#15327](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15327))
+- Bump ruff from 0.0.252 to 0.0.259. ([\#15328](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15328))
+- Bump cryptography from 40.0.0 to 40.0.1. ([\#15329](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15329))
+- Bump mypy-zope from 0.9.0 to 0.9.1. ([\#15330](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15330))
+- Speed up unit tests when using SQLite3. ([\#15334](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15334))
+- Speed up pydantic CI job. ([\#15339](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15339))
+- Speed up sample config CI job. ([\#15340](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15340))
+- Add experimental support for Unix sockets. Contributed by Jason Little. ([\#15353](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15353))
+- Add some clarification to the doc/comments regarding TCP replication. ([\#15354](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15354))
+- Fix copyright year in SSO footer template. ([\#15358](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15358))
+- Bump peaceiris/actions-gh-pages from 3.9.2 to 3.9.3. ([\#15369](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15369))
+- Bump serde from 1.0.158 to 1.0.159. ([\#15370](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15370))
+- Bump serde_json from 1.0.94 to 1.0.95. ([\#15371](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15371))
+- Speed up membership queries for users with forgotten rooms. ([\#15385](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15385))
+
+
 Synapse 1.80.0 (2023-03-28)
 ===========================
 
diff --git a/changelog.d/14978.feature b/changelog.d/14978.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 14f6fee658..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/14978.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add the ability to enable/disable registrations when in the OIDC flow.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/15113.misc b/changelog.d/15113.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 6917dd5652..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15113.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Use `immutabledict` instead of `frozendict`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15243.feature b/changelog.d/15243.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index c45e974c4c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15243.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add a primitive helper script for listing worker endpoints.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/15265.misc b/changelog.d/15265.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 355c3cae2b..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15265.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add developer documentation for the Federation Sender and add a documentation mechanism using Sphinx.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/15280.misc b/changelog.d/15280.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 41d56b0cf0..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15280.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Make the pushers rely on the `device_id` instead of the `access_token_id` for various operations.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15285.misc b/changelog.d/15285.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index ad635ef3f2..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15285.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump sentry-sdk from 1.15.0 to 1.17.0.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15295.bugfix b/changelog.d/15295.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index af43035383..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15295.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a long-standing bug where edits of non-`m.room.message` events would not be correctly bundled.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15297.bugfix b/changelog.d/15297.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index b5735fe4da..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15297.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a bug introduced in Synapse v1.55.0 which could delay remote homeservers being able to decrypt encrypted messages sent by local users.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15302.misc b/changelog.d/15302.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index aadadf4b43..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15302.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Allow running the Twisted trunk job against other branches.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15303.misc b/changelog.d/15303.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 977b9dcd02..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15303.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remind the releaser to ask for changelog feedback in [#synapse-dev](https://matrix.to/#/#synapse-dev:matrix.org).
diff --git a/changelog.d/15304.misc b/changelog.d/15304.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 38abb87a88..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15304.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump dtolnay/rust-toolchain from e12eda571dc9a5ee5d58eecf4738ec291c66f295 to fc3253060d0c959bea12a59f10f8391454a0b02d.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15306.bugfix b/changelog.d/15306.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index f5eb716f12..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15306.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-Add a check to [SQLite port_db script](https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/postgres.html#porting-from-sqlite)
-to ensure that the sqlite database passed to the script exists before trying to port from it.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15309.bugfix b/changelog.d/15309.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 4d3fe4e4b1..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15309.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a bug introduced in Synapse 1.76.0 where responses from worker deployments could include an internal `_INT_STREAM_POS` key.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15311.misc b/changelog.d/15311.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index ce03cb9523..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15311.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Reject events with an invalid "mentions" property pert [MSC3952](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3952).
diff --git a/changelog.d/15314.feature b/changelog.d/15314.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 5ce0c029ce..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15314.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Experimental support for passing One Time Key and device key requests to application services ([MSC3983](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3983) and [MSC3984](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3984)).
diff --git a/changelog.d/15316.misc b/changelog.d/15316.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 1f408739f0..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15316.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-As an optimisation, use `TRUNCATE` on Postgres when clearing the user directory tables.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/15317.bugfix b/changelog.d/15317.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 194e4c46c6..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15317.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a long-standing bug that Synpase only used the [legacy appservice routes](https://spec.matrix.org/v1.6/application-service-api/#legacy-routes).
diff --git a/changelog.d/15319.misc b/changelog.d/15319.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 339e5b347d..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15319.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix `.gitignore` rule for the Complement source tarball downloaded automatically by `complement.sh`.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/15321.feature b/changelog.d/15321.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 5ce0c029ce..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15321.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Experimental support for passing One Time Key and device key requests to application services ([MSC3983](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3983) and [MSC3984](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3984)).
diff --git a/changelog.d/15323.bugfix b/changelog.d/15323.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index bc1ab35532..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15323.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a long-standing bug preventing users from joining rooms, that they had been unbanned from, over federation. Contributed by Nico.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15324.misc b/changelog.d/15324.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 2908c82a2a..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15324.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump serde from 1.0.157 to 1.0.158.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15325.misc b/changelog.d/15325.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 51af16f7e8..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15325.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump regex from 1.7.1 to 1.7.3.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15326.misc b/changelog.d/15326.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 6238b7ff80..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15326.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump types-pyopenssl from 23.0.0.4 to 23.1.0.0.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15327.misc b/changelog.d/15327.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index e5813f1aa9..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15327.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump furo from 2022.12.7 to 2023.3.23.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15328.misc b/changelog.d/15328.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index e3e5953332..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15328.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump ruff from 0.0.252 to 0.0.259.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15329.misc b/changelog.d/15329.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index eea38b7a42..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15329.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump cryptography from 40.0.0 to 40.0.1.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15330.misc b/changelog.d/15330.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index d60e63483e..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15330.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump mypy-zope from 0.9.0 to 0.9.1.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15331.feature b/changelog.d/15331.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index b4c2eddc48..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15331.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Allow loading `/password_policy` endpoint on workers.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/15332.bugfix b/changelog.d/15332.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index ca6fb1d2fd..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15332.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix bug in worker mode where on a rolling restart of workers the "typing" worker would consume 100% CPU until it got restarted.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15334.misc b/changelog.d/15334.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 0c30818ed0..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15334.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Speed up unit tests when using SQLite3.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15336.misc b/changelog.d/15336.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 39c9fc82e9..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15336.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add developer documentation for the Federation Sender and add a documentation mechanism using Sphinx.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15339.misc b/changelog.d/15339.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 626f7ef5c0..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15339.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Speed up pydantic CI job.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15340.misc b/changelog.d/15340.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index e2fe35d7c5..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15340.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Speed up sample config CI job.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15341.doc b/changelog.d/15341.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index d85c0fd2c4..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15341.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a typo in login requests ratelimit defaults.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15349.bugfix b/changelog.d/15349.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 65ea7ae7eb..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15349.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a long-standing bug where some to_device messages could be dropped when using workers.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15351.bugfix b/changelog.d/15351.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index e68023c671..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15351.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a bug introduced in Synapse 1.70.0 where the background sync from a faster join could spin for hours when one of the events involved had been marked for backoff.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15352.bugfix b/changelog.d/15352.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 36d6615cac..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15352.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix missing app variable in mail subject for password resets. Contributed by Cyberes.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15353.misc b/changelog.d/15353.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 23927fea8f..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15353.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add experimental support for Unix sockets. Contributed by Jason Little.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15354.misc b/changelog.d/15354.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 862444edfb..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15354.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add some clarification to the doc/comments regarding TCP replication.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15358.misc b/changelog.d/15358.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index daf261a9f1..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15358.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix copyright year in SSO footer template.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15369.misc b/changelog.d/15369.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index da990285cb..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15369.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump peaceiris/actions-gh-pages from 3.9.2 to 3.9.3.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15370.misc b/changelog.d/15370.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 23a18eaf07..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15370.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump serde from 1.0.158 to 1.0.159.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15371.misc b/changelog.d/15371.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index c21deede05..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15371.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump serde_json from 1.0.94 to 1.0.95.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15381.feature b/changelog.d/15381.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index ba5b578564..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15381.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Build Debian packages for Ubuntu 23.04 (Lunar Lobster).
diff --git a/changelog.d/15383.bugfix b/changelog.d/15383.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 28c66ef454..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15383.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a rare bug introduced in Synapse 1.66.0 where initial syncs would fail when the user had been kicked from a faster joined room that had not finished syncing.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15385.misc b/changelog.d/15385.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 76350c398d..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15385.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Speed up membership queries for users with forgotten rooms.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15386.doc b/changelog.d/15386.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 5c032193ae..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15386.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Note that Synapse 1.74 queued a rebuild of the user directory tables.
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 98366d4916..c3bea01c05 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+matrix-synapse-py3 (1.81.0~rc1) stable; urgency=medium
+
+  * New Synapse release 1.81.0rc1.
+
+ -- Synapse Packaging team <packages@matrix.org>  Tue, 04 Apr 2023 14:29:03 +0100
+
 matrix-synapse-py3 (1.80.0) stable; urgency=medium
 
   * New Synapse release 1.80.0.
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index dc5522c4b5..3b38d8370c 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ manifest-path = "rust/Cargo.toml"
 
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "matrix-synapse"
-version = "1.80.0"
+version = "1.81.0rc1"
 description = "Homeserver for the Matrix decentralised comms protocol"
 authors = ["Matrix.org Team and Contributors <packages@matrix.org>"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"