diff --git a/.changes/1.18.40.json b/.changes/1.18.40.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..afe4d19824
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changes/1.18.40.json
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+[
+  {
+    "category": "``cloudformation``",
+    "description": "[``botocore``] Doc only update for CloudFormation that fixes several customer-reported issues.",
+    "type": "api-change"
+  },
+  {
+    "category": "``rds``",
+    "description": "[``botocore``] This release adds support for providing a custom timeout value for finding a scaling point during autoscaling in Aurora Serverless v1.",
+    "type": "api-change"
+  },
+  {
+    "category": "``ecr``",
+    "description": "[``botocore``] This release updates terminology around KMS keys.",
+    "type": "api-change"
+  },
+  {
+    "category": "``sagemaker``",
+    "description": "[``botocore``] This release adds support for \"Lifecycle Configurations\" to SageMaker Studio",
+    "type": "api-change"
+  },
+  {
+    "category": "``transcribe``",
+    "description": "[``botocore``] This release adds an API option for startTranscriptionJob and startMedicalTranscriptionJob that allows the user to specify encryption context key value pairs for batch jobs.",
+    "type": "api-change"
+  },
+  {
+    "category": "``quicksight``",
+    "description": "[``botocore``] Add new data source type for Amazon OpenSearch (successor to Amazon ElasticSearch).",
+    "type": "api-change"
+  }
+]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.changes/next-release/api-change-cloudformation-32331.json b/.changes/next-release/api-change-cloudformation-32331.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 8df9cbd0ba..0000000000
--- a/.changes/next-release/api-change-cloudformation-32331.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "type": "api-change",
-  "category": "``cloudformation``",
-  "description": "[``botocore``] Doc only update for CloudFormation that fixes several customer-reported issues."
-}
diff --git a/.changes/next-release/api-change-ecr-45293.json b/.changes/next-release/api-change-ecr-45293.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 58b5cc24eb..0000000000
--- a/.changes/next-release/api-change-ecr-45293.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "type": "api-change",
-  "category": "``ecr``",
-  "description": "[``botocore``] This release updates terminology around KMS keys."
-}
diff --git a/.changes/next-release/api-change-quicksight-91094.json b/.changes/next-release/api-change-quicksight-91094.json
deleted file mode 100644
index ff7710ee89..0000000000
--- a/.changes/next-release/api-change-quicksight-91094.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "type": "api-change",
-  "category": "``quicksight``",
-  "description": "[``botocore``] Add new data source type for Amazon OpenSearch (successor to Amazon ElasticSearch)."
-}
diff --git a/.changes/next-release/api-change-rds-36798.json b/.changes/next-release/api-change-rds-36798.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 6e24a3afc1..0000000000
--- a/.changes/next-release/api-change-rds-36798.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "type": "api-change",
-  "category": "``rds``",
-  "description": "[``botocore``] This release adds support for providing a custom timeout value for finding a scaling point during autoscaling in Aurora Serverless v1."
-}
diff --git a/.changes/next-release/api-change-sagemaker-48568.json b/.changes/next-release/api-change-sagemaker-48568.json
deleted file mode 100644
index b2b9be7271..0000000000
--- a/.changes/next-release/api-change-sagemaker-48568.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "type": "api-change",
-  "category": "``sagemaker``",
-  "description": "[``botocore``] This release adds support for \"Lifecycle Configurations\" to SageMaker Studio"
-}
diff --git a/.changes/next-release/api-change-transcribe-35925.json b/.changes/next-release/api-change-transcribe-35925.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 95c0ca5292..0000000000
--- a/.changes/next-release/api-change-transcribe-35925.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "type": "api-change",
-  "category": "``transcribe``",
-  "description": "[``botocore``] This release adds an API option for startTranscriptionJob and startMedicalTranscriptionJob that allows the user to specify encryption context key value pairs for batch jobs."
-}
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 4c0b9caebd..e5ca3b957b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -2,6 +2,17 @@
 CHANGELOG
 =========
 
+1.18.40
+=======
+
+* api-change:``cloudformation``: [``botocore``] Doc only update for CloudFormation that fixes several customer-reported issues.
+* api-change:``rds``: [``botocore``] This release adds support for providing a custom timeout value for finding a scaling point during autoscaling in Aurora Serverless v1.
+* api-change:``ecr``: [``botocore``] This release updates terminology around KMS keys.
+* api-change:``sagemaker``: [``botocore``] This release adds support for "Lifecycle Configurations" to SageMaker Studio
+* api-change:``transcribe``: [``botocore``] This release adds an API option for startTranscriptionJob and startMedicalTranscriptionJob that allows the user to specify encryption context key value pairs for batch jobs.
+* api-change:``quicksight``: [``botocore``] Add new data source type for Amazon OpenSearch (successor to Amazon ElasticSearch).
+
+
 1.18.39
 =======
 
diff --git a/boto3/__init__.py b/boto3/__init__.py
index 19ad640e94..95d65ec78d 100644
--- a/boto3/__init__.py
+++ b/boto3/__init__.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 
 
 __author__ = 'Amazon Web Services'
-__version__ = '1.18.39'
+__version__ = '1.18.40'
 
 
 # The default Boto3 session; autoloaded when needed.
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index ec954247a1..fc8291ed96 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ universal = 0
 
 [metadata]
 requires_dist =
-    botocore>=1.21.39,<1.22.0
+    botocore>=1.21.40,<1.22.0
     jmespath>=0.7.1,<1.0.0
     s3transfer>=0.5.0,<0.6.0
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 5c083b9bbf..0e55808a2f 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 
 requires = [
-    'botocore>=1.21.39,<1.22.0',
+    'botocore>=1.21.40,<1.22.0',
     'jmespath>=0.7.1,<1.0.0',
     's3transfer>=0.5.0,<0.6.0'
 ]