diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index d0e50ca07ad9..a36373c3bfc3 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-3.1.0-alpha1
+3.1.0-rc0
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup-stable.yaml b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup-stable.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index f1d9d0a2f944..000000000000
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-cleanup/base/kata-cleanup-stable.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
----
-apiVersion: apps/v1
-kind: DaemonSet
-metadata:
-  name: kubelet-kata-cleanup
-  namespace: kube-system
-spec:
-  selector:
-      matchLabels:
-        name: kubelet-kata-cleanup
-  template:
-    metadata:
-        labels:
-          name: kubelet-kata-cleanup
-    spec:
-      serviceAccountName: kata-label-node
-      nodeSelector:
-          katacontainers.io/kata-runtime: cleanup
-      containers:
-      - name: kube-kata-cleanup
-        image: quay.io/kata-containers/kata-deploy:stable
-        imagePullPolicy: Always
-        command: [ "bash", "-c", "/opt/kata-artifacts/scripts/kata-deploy.sh reset" ]
-        env:
-        - name: NODE_NAME
-          valueFrom:
-            fieldRef:
-              fieldPath: spec.nodeName
-        securityContext:
-          privileged: false
-        volumeMounts:
-        - name: dbus
-          mountPath: /var/run/dbus
-        - name: systemd
-          mountPath: /run/systemd
-      volumes:
-        - name: dbus
-          hostPath:
-            path: /var/run/dbus
-        - name: systemd
-          hostPath:
-            path: /run/systemd
-  updateStrategy:
-    rollingUpdate:
-      maxUnavailable: 1
-    type: RollingUpdate
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy-stable.yaml b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy-stable.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 346e4c0ee2fd..000000000000
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/kata-deploy/base/kata-deploy-stable.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,69 +0,0 @@
----
-apiVersion: apps/v1
-kind: DaemonSet
-metadata:
-  name: kata-deploy
-  namespace: kube-system
-spec:
-  selector:
-      matchLabels:
-        name: kata-deploy
-  template:
-    metadata:
-        labels:
-          name: kata-deploy
-    spec:
-      serviceAccountName: kata-label-node
-      containers:
-      - name: kube-kata
-        image: quay.io/kata-containers/kata-deploy:stable
-        imagePullPolicy: Always
-        lifecycle:
-          preStop:
-            exec:
-              command: ["bash", "-c", "/opt/kata-artifacts/scripts/kata-deploy.sh cleanup"]
-        command: [ "bash", "-c", "/opt/kata-artifacts/scripts/kata-deploy.sh install" ]
-        env:
-        - name: NODE_NAME
-          valueFrom:
-            fieldRef:
-              fieldPath: spec.nodeName
-        securityContext:
-          privileged: false
-        volumeMounts:
-        - name: crio-conf
-          mountPath: /etc/crio/
-        - name: containerd-conf
-          mountPath: /etc/containerd/
-        - name: kata-artifacts
-          mountPath: /opt/kata/
-        - name: dbus
-          mountPath: /var/run/dbus
-        - name: systemd
-          mountPath: /run/systemd
-        - name: local-bin
-          mountPath: /usr/local/bin/
-      volumes:
-        - name: crio-conf
-          hostPath:
-            path: /etc/crio/
-        - name: containerd-conf
-          hostPath:
-            path: /etc/containerd/
-        - name: kata-artifacts
-          hostPath:
-            path: /opt/kata/
-            type: DirectoryOrCreate
-        - name: dbus
-          hostPath:
-            path: /var/run/dbus
-        - name: systemd
-          hostPath:
-            path: /run/systemd
-        - name: local-bin
-          hostPath:
-            path: /usr/local/bin/
-  updateStrategy:
-    rollingUpdate:
-      maxUnavailable: 1
-    type: RollingUpdate