diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fecef3366..dc013f2ce 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ What does it do?
 <sup>¹ PyPy is only supported for manylinux wheels.</sup><br>
 <sup>² Windows arm64 support is experimental.</sup><br>
 <sup>³ Alpine 3.14 and very briefly 3.15's default python3 [was not able to load](https://github.com/pypa/cibuildwheel/issues/934) musllinux wheels. This has been fixed; please upgrade the python package if using Alpine from before the fix.</sup><br>
-<sup>⁴ CPython 3.11 is available using the [CIBW_PRERELEASE_PYTHONS](https://cibuildwheel.readthedocs.io/en/stable/options/#prerelease-pythons) option.</sup><br>
+<sup>⁴ CPython 3.11 is built by default using Python 3.11.0rc1, starting with cibuildwheel 2.9.</sup><br>
 
 - Builds manylinux, musllinux, macOS 10.9+, and Windows wheels for CPython and PyPy
 - Works on GitHub Actions, Azure Pipelines, Travis CI, AppVeyor, CircleCI, and GitLab CI
diff --git a/cibuildwheel/util.py b/cibuildwheel/util.py
index 6a6a6e2a4..62422201c 100644
--- a/cibuildwheel/util.py
+++ b/cibuildwheel/util.py
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ class BuildSelector:
     requires_python: SpecifierSet | None = None
 
     # a pattern that skips prerelease versions, when include_prereleases is False.
-    PRERELEASE_SKIP: ClassVar[str] = "cp311-*"
+    PRERELEASE_SKIP: ClassVar[str] = ""
     prerelease_pythons: bool = False
 
     def __call__(self, build_id: str) -> bool:
diff --git a/unit_test/build_selector_test.py b/unit_test/build_selector_test.py
index 14ff8da63..3e544900c 100644
--- a/unit_test/build_selector_test.py
+++ b/unit_test/build_selector_test.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ def test_build():
     assert build_selector("cp36-manylinux_x86_64")
     assert build_selector("cp37-manylinux_x86_64")
     assert build_selector("cp310-manylinux_x86_64")
-    assert not build_selector("cp311-manylinux_x86_64")
+    assert build_selector("cp311-manylinux_x86_64")
     assert build_selector("pp36-manylinux_x86_64")
     assert build_selector("pp37-manylinux_x86_64")
     assert build_selector("cp36-manylinux_i686")
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ def test_build():
     assert build_selector("cp36-win_amd64")
     assert build_selector("cp37-win_amd64")
     assert build_selector("cp310-win_amd64")
-    assert not build_selector("cp311-win_amd64")
+    assert build_selector("cp311-win_amd64")
     assert not build_selector("pp36-win_amd64")
     assert not build_selector("pp37-win_amd64")
 
diff --git a/unit_test/linux_build_steps_test.py b/unit_test/linux_build_steps_test.py
index 809cdf650..8423d423c 100644
--- a/unit_test/linux_build_steps_test.py
+++ b/unit_test/linux_build_steps_test.py
@@ -60,8 +60,12 @@ def before_alls(step):
     pprint(build_steps)
 
     assert build_steps[0].container_image == "normal_container_image"
-    assert identifiers(build_steps[0]) == ["cp36-manylinux_x86_64", "cp37-manylinux_x86_64"]
-    assert before_alls(build_steps[0]) == ["", ""]
+    assert identifiers(build_steps[0]) == [
+        "cp36-manylinux_x86_64",
+        "cp37-manylinux_x86_64",
+        "cp311-manylinux_x86_64",
+    ]
+    assert before_alls(build_steps[0]) == ["", "", ""]
 
     assert build_steps[1].container_image == "other_container_image"
     assert identifiers(build_steps[1]) == ["cp38-manylinux_x86_64", "cp310-manylinux_x86_64"]
diff --git a/unit_test/option_prepare_test.py b/unit_test/option_prepare_test.py
index bc01317b3..9b21d3295 100644
--- a/unit_test/option_prepare_test.py
+++ b/unit_test/option_prepare_test.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 from cibuildwheel import linux, util
 from cibuildwheel.__main__ import main
 
-ALL_IDS = {"cp36", "cp37", "cp38", "cp39", "cp310", "pp37", "pp38", "pp39"}
+ALL_IDS = {"cp36", "cp37", "cp38", "cp39", "cp310", "cp311", "pp37", "pp38", "pp39"}
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
@@ -137,7 +137,8 @@ def test_build_with_override_launches(mock_build_container, monkeypatch, tmp_pat
 
     identifiers = {x.identifier for x in kwargs["platform_configs"]}
     assert identifiers == {
-        f"{x}-manylinux_x86_64" for x in ALL_IDS - {"cp36", "cp310", "pp37", "pp38", "pp39"}
+        f"{x}-manylinux_x86_64"
+        for x in ALL_IDS - {"cp36", "cp310", "cp311", "pp37", "pp38", "pp39"}
     }
     assert kwargs["options"].build_options("cp37-manylinux_x86_64").before_all == ""
 
@@ -147,10 +148,7 @@ def test_build_with_override_launches(mock_build_container, monkeypatch, tmp_pat
     assert not kwargs["container"]["simulate_32_bit"]
     identifiers = {x.identifier for x in kwargs["platform_configs"]}
     assert identifiers == {
-        "cp310-manylinux_x86_64",
-        "pp37-manylinux_x86_64",
-        "pp38-manylinux_x86_64",
-        "pp39-manylinux_x86_64",
+        f"{x}-manylinux_x86_64" for x in {"cp310", "cp311", "pp37", "pp38", "pp39"}
     }
 
     kwargs = build_in_container.call_args_list[3][1]