diff --git a/autoarray/__init__.py b/autoarray/__init__.py
index 40bdadce5..0d98aedba 100644
--- a/autoarray/__init__.py
+++ b/autoarray/__init__.py
@@ -107,7 +107,10 @@
 
 conf.instance.register(__file__)
 
-__version__ = "2026.7.23.1"
+# Last manual sync of the source stamp. Release wheels are stamped at build
+# time and the git tag is the release truth — deliberately never bumped per
+# release (PyAutoBuild#118/#120).
+__version__ = "2026.8.17.1"
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Public re-export of the autonerves configuration / serialization surface.
diff --git a/files/release.sh b/files/release.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 323744511..000000000
--- a/files/release.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-export PACKAGE_NAME=autoarray
-
-rm -rf $p/dist
-rm -rf $p/build
-
-set -e
-
-export VERSION=$1
-
-cat $PACKAGE_NAME/__init__.py | grep -v __version__ > temp
-
-cat temp > $PACKAGE_NAME/__init__.py
-rm temp
-echo "__version__ = '"$VERSION"'" >> $PACKAGE_NAME/__init__.py
-
-git add $PACKAGE_NAME/__init__.py
-
-set +e
-git commit -m "Incremented version number"
-set -e
-
-python3 setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
-twine upload dist/* --skip-existing --username $PYPI_USERNAME --password $PYPI_PASSWORD
-
-
-git push --tags
-
-rm -rf $p/dist
-rm -rf $p/build