diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 27fbf804b..573ffa9cf 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -2,6 +2,77 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+Version 12.4.0
+==============
+*Released 2020-02-08*
+
+**New features:**
+
+- Set default values for arguments appearing repeatedly. We also have a `wiki page for the new defaults`_. (`#1490`_)
+- Store data in ``CallbackContext.bot_data`` to access it in every callback. Also persists. (`#1325`_)
+- ``Filters.poll`` allows only messages containing a poll (`#1673`_)
+
+**Major changes:**
+
+- ``Filters.text`` now accepts messages that start with a slash, because ``CommandHandler`` checks for ``MessageEntity.BOT_COMMAND`` since v12. This might lead to your MessageHandlers receiving more updates than before (`#1680`_).
+- ``Filters.command`` new checks for ``MessageEntity.BOT_COMMAND`` instead of just a leading slash. Also by ``Filters.command(False)`` you can now filters for messages containing a command `anywhere` in the text (`#1744`_).
+
+**Minor changes, CI improvements or bug fixes:**
+
+- Add ``disptacher`` argument to ``Updater`` to allow passing a customized ``Dispatcher`` (`#1484`_)
+- Add missing names for ``Filters`` (`#1632`_)
+- Documentation fixes (`#1624`_, `#1647`_, `#1669`_, `#1703`_, `#1718`_, `#1734`_, `#1740`_, `#1642`_, `#1739`_, `#1746`_)
+- CI improvements (`#1716`_, `#1731`_, `#1738`_, `#1748`_, `#1749`_, `#1750`_, `#1752`_)
+- Fix spelling issue for ``encode_conversations_to_json`` (`#1661`_)
+- Remove double assignement of ``Dispatcher.job_queue`` (`#1698`_)
+- Expose dispatcher as property for ``CallbackContext`` (`#1684`_)
+- Fix ``None`` check in ``JobQueue._put()`` (`#1707`_)
+- Log datetimes correctly in ``JobQueue`` (`#1714`_)
+- Fix false ``Message.link`` creation for private groups (`#1741`_)
+- Add option ``--with-upstream-urllib3`` to `setup.py` to allow using non-vendored version (`#1725`_)
+- Fix persistence for nested ``ConversationHandlers`` (`#1679`_)
+- Improve handling of non-decodable server responses (`#1623`_)
+- Fix download for files without ``file_path`` (`#1591`_)
+- test_webhook_invalid_posts is now considered flaky and retried on failure (`#1758`_)
+
+.. _`wiki page for the new defaults`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/wiki/Adding-defaults-to-your-bot
+.. _`#1744`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1744
+.. _`#1752`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1752
+.. _`#1750`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1750
+.. _`#1591`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1591
+.. _`#1490`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1490
+.. _`#1749`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1749
+.. _`#1623`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1623
+.. _`#1748`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1748
+.. _`#1679`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1679
+.. _`#1711`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1711
+.. _`#1325`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1325
+.. _`#1746`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1746
+.. _`#1725`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1725
+.. _`#1739`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1739
+.. _`#1741`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1741
+.. _`#1642`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1642
+.. _`#1738`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1738
+.. _`#1740`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1740
+.. _`#1734`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1734
+.. _`#1680`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1680
+.. _`#1718`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1718
+.. _`#1714`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1714
+.. _`#1707`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1707
+.. _`#1731`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1731
+.. _`#1673`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1673
+.. _`#1684`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1684
+.. _`#1703`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1703
+.. _`#1698`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1698
+.. _`#1669`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1669
+.. _`#1661`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1661
+.. _`#1647`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1647
+.. _`#1632`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1632
+.. _`#1624`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1624
+.. _`#1716`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1716
+.. _`#1484`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1484
+.. _`#1758`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1484
+
 Version 12.3.0
 ==============
 *Released 2020-01-11*
@@ -15,7 +86,7 @@ Version 12.3.0
 
 - Fix inconsistent handling of naive datetimes (`#1506`_).
 
-**Minor changes, CI improvments or bug fixes:**
+**Minor changes, CI improvements or bug fixes:**
 
 - Documentation fixes (`#1558`_, `#1569`_, `#1579`_, `#1572`_, `#1566`_, `#1577`_, `#1656`_).
 - Add mutex protection on `ConversationHandler` (`#1533`_).
@@ -27,7 +98,7 @@ Version 12.3.0
 - Allow private groups for `Message.link` (`#1619`_).
 - Fix wrong signature call for `ConversationHandler.TIMEOUT` handlers (`#1653`_).
 
-.. _`#1631`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1558
+.. _`#1631`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1631
 .. _`#1506`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1506
 .. _`#1558`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1558
 .. _`#1569`: https://github.com/python-telegram-bot/python-telegram-bot/pull/1569
diff --git a/docs/source/conf.py b/docs/source/conf.py
index 70602292f..2221773d7 100644
--- a/docs/source/conf.py
+++ b/docs/source/conf.py
@@ -58,9 +58,9 @@ author = u'Leandro Toledo'
 # built documents.
 #
 # The short X.Y version.
-version = '12.3'  # telegram.__version__[:3]
+version = '12.4'  # telegram.__version__[:3]
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
-release = '12.3.0'  # telegram.__version__
+release = '12.4.0'  # telegram.__version__
 
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.
diff --git a/telegram/version.py b/telegram/version.py
index e6833c17a..95ba460bd 100644
--- a/telegram/version.py
+++ b/telegram/version.py
@@ -17,4 +17,4 @@
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser Public License
 # along with this program.  If not, see [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/].
 
-__version__ = '12.3.0'
+__version__ = '12.4.0'