diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 7691ca33..153afa10 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
-03 Mar 2008 - 2.5.1-rc1
+04 Mar 2008 - 2.5.1-rc1
 -----------------------
 
+ * Using "severity" in a default action is now just a warning.
+
  * Cleaned up the "make test" target to better locate headers/libraries.
 
  * Now search /usr/lib64 and /usr/lib32 for lua libs.
diff --git a/apache2/apache2_config.c b/apache2/apache2_config.c
index d7bb4857..0287a08c 100644
--- a/apache2/apache2_config.c
+++ b/apache2/apache2_config.c
@@ -1120,13 +1120,20 @@ static const char *cmd_default_action(cmd_parms *cmd, void *_dcfg, const char *p
     /* ENH: loop through to check for tags */
     if ((dcfg->tmp_default_actionset->id != NOT_SET_P)
         ||(dcfg->tmp_default_actionset->rev != NOT_SET_P)
-        ||(dcfg->tmp_default_actionset->msg != NOT_SET_P)
-        ||(dcfg->tmp_default_actionset->severity != NOT_SET)
-        ||(dcfg->tmp_default_actionset->logdata != NOT_SET_P))
+        ||(dcfg->tmp_default_actionset->msg != NOT_SET_P))
     {
         return apr_psprintf(cmd->pool, "ModSecurity: SecDefaultAction must not "
             "contain any metadata actions (id, rev, msg, tag, severity, logdata).");
     }
+    /* These are just a warning for now. */
+    if ((dcfg->tmp_default_actionset->severity != NOT_SET)
+        ||(dcfg->tmp_default_actionset->logdata != NOT_SET_P))
+    {
+        ap_log_perror(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_STARTUP|APLOG_NOERRNO, 0, cmd->pool,
+            "ModSecurity: WARNING SecDefaultAction \"%s\" should not "
+            "contain a severity or logdata action (%s:%d).",
+            p1, cmd->directive->filename, cmd->directive->line_num);
+    }
 
     /* Must not use chain. */
     if (dcfg->tmp_default_actionset->is_chained != NOT_SET) {
diff --git a/apache2/modsecurity.h b/apache2/modsecurity.h
index 5f861599..64b96243 100644
--- a/apache2/modsecurity.h
+++ b/apache2/modsecurity.h
@@ -63,8 +63,8 @@ extern DSOLOCAL modsec_build_type_rec modsec_build_type[];
 #define MODSEC_VERSION_MAJOR       "2"
 #define MODSEC_VERSION_MINOR       "5"
 #define MODSEC_VERSION_MAINT       "0"
-#define MODSEC_VERSION_TYPE        ""
-#define MODSEC_VERSION_RELEASE     ""
+#define MODSEC_VERSION_TYPE        "-rc"
+#define MODSEC_VERSION_RELEASE     "1"
 
 #define MODULE_NAME "ModSecurity for Apache"
 
diff --git a/doc/modsecurity2-apache-reference.xml b/doc/modsecurity2-apache-reference.xml
index 2cb26fd8..3a4f97ab 100644
--- a/doc/modsecurity2-apache-reference.xml
+++ b/doc/modsecurity2-apache-reference.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   Manual</title>
 
   <articleinfo>
-    <releaseinfo>Version 2.5.1-rc1 (March 03, 2008)</releaseinfo>
+    <releaseinfo>Version 2.5.1-rc1 (March 04, 2008)</releaseinfo>
 
     <copyright>
       <year>2004-2008</year>