diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index afc5ecd4b..4f9fa5b70 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,17 @@
+Jan 21, 2015
+============
+
+Release 1.2.1
+
+This is a bugfix and maintenance release.
+
+- Documentation updates
+- lcm-spy
+   - Misc bugfixes
+   - Fix bug where lcm-spy did not display content of some messages (Johan
+     Widen)
+- Remove jchart2d jar file from INSTALLED_CLASSPATH variable
+
 Nov 18, 2014
 ============
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 1a00d1ef5..c6be859d8 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 AC_PREREQ(2.50)
-AC_INIT([lcm], 1.2.0)
+AC_INIT([lcm], 1.2.1)
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([lcm/lcm.h])
 AC_CANONICAL_SYSTEM
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([foreign tar-ustar])
diff --git a/docs/release_checklist b/docs/release_checklist
index 42f0fecaf..2e79491a5 100644
--- a/docs/release_checklist
+++ b/docs/release_checklist
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
   $ make distcheck
 7. Take the resulting tarball, extract it, build it, install it, make sure
   the basic executables run.
+  $ tar xzvf lcm-X.Y.Z.tar.gz
   $ cd lcm-X.Y.Z
   $ ./configure
   $ make
@@ -28,6 +29,8 @@
   $ cd ../test
   $ make clean
   $ make
+  $ ./run_unit_tests.py
+  $ ./run_client_server_tests.py
 2. Repeat unit tests on:
   * GNU/Linux
   * OS X
diff --git a/lcm-python/setup.py b/lcm-python/setup.py
index a0d8bdc0a..9e8be1463 100644
--- a/lcm-python/setup.py
+++ b/lcm-python/setup.py
@@ -91,6 +91,6 @@
         libraries=libraries,
         extra_compile_args=extra_compile_args)
 
-setup(name="lcm", version="1.2.0",
+setup(name="lcm", version="1.2.1",
       ext_modules=[pylcm_extension],
       packages=["lcm"])
diff --git a/lcm/lcm.h b/lcm/lcm.h
index bbc5a9075..df3f834a9 100644
--- a/lcm/lcm.h
+++ b/lcm/lcm.h
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ int lcm_subscription_set_queue_capacity(lcm_subscription_t* handler, int num_mes
 #define LCM_MINOR_VERSION 2
 
 /// LCM release micro version - the Z in version X.Y.Z
-#define LCM_MICRO_VERSION 0
+#define LCM_MICRO_VERSION 1
 
 /**
  * @}
diff --git a/test/java/build.xml b/test/java/build.xml
index 99e772fa8..9a61780d0 100644
--- a/test/java/build.xml
+++ b/test/java/build.xml
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
   </target>
 
   <target name="clean">
-    <delete>
+    <delete failonerror="false">
       <fileset dir="build" includes="**/*.class"/>
       <fileset dir="." includes="lcmtest.jar"/>
     </delete>