diff --git a/.bumpversion.cfg b/.bumpversion.cfg
index 2b055f2389..7215487880 100644
--- a/.bumpversion.cfg
+++ b/.bumpversion.cfg
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [bumpversion]
-current_version = 72.1.0
+current_version = 72.2.0
 commit = True
 tag = True
 
diff --git a/NEWS.rst b/NEWS.rst
index e89dfcba6d..a2d5eeba36 100644
--- a/NEWS.rst
+++ b/NEWS.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+v72.2.0
+=======
+
+Features
+--------
+
+- Merged with pypa/distutils@b7ee725f3 including: Support for Pathlike objects in data files and extensions (pypa/distutils#272, pypa/distutils#237), native support for C++ compilers (pypa/distuils#228) and removed unused get_msvcr() (pypa/distutils#274). (#4538)
+
+
 v72.1.0
 =======
 
diff --git a/newsfragments/4538.feature.rst b/newsfragments/4538.feature.rst
deleted file mode 100644
index d5e37e74f4..0000000000
--- a/newsfragments/4538.feature.rst
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Merged with pypa/distutils@b7ee725f3 including: Support for Pathlike objects in data files and extensions (pypa/distutils#272, pypa/distutils#237), native support for C++ compilers (pypa/distuils#228) and removed unused get_msvcr() (pypa/distutils#274).
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 0c7d5e752a..95efd1e9b3 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ backend-path = ["."]
 
 [project]
 name = "setuptools"
-version = "72.1.0"
+version = "72.2.0"
 authors = [
 	{ name = "Python Packaging Authority", email = "distutils-sig@python.org" },
 ]