diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 4ab9ada..7f96946 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Version 0.12.0 - January 14, 2025
+# Version 0.12.0 - January 15, 2025
 
 - Fixes https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs-cpp/issues/21. The API that
   NIST has introduced in [FIPS 204](https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/fips/204/final)
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 const bytes& context) const`
   - `bool Signature::verify_with_ctx_str(const bytes& message,
 const bytes& signature, const bytes& context, const bytes& public_key) const`
+- Updated examples to use `ML-KEM` and `ML-DSA` as the defaults
 
 # Version 0.10.0 - March 27, 2024
 
diff --git a/RELEASE.md b/RELEASE.md
index ee5a3c2..5b2d4ae 100644
--- a/RELEASE.md
+++ b/RELEASE.md
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ See in particular limitations on intended use.
 
 ## Release notes
 
-This release of liboqs-cpp was released on January 14, 2025. Its release page
+This release of liboqs-cpp was released on January 15, 2025. Its release page
 on GitHub is
 https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs-cpp/releases/tag/0.12.0.
 
diff --git a/examples/kem.cpp b/examples/kem.cpp
index d10e60d..a575149 100644
--- a/examples/kem.cpp
+++ b/examples/kem.cpp
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ int main() {
     std::cout << "liboqs-cpp version: " << oqs::oqs_cpp_version() << '\n';
     std::cout << "Enabled KEMs:\n" << oqs::KEMs::get_enabled_KEMs();
 
-    std::string kem_name = "Kyber512";
+    std::string kem_name = "ML-KEM-512";
     oqs::KeyEncapsulation client{kem_name};
     std::cout << "\n\nKEM details:\n" << client.get_details();
 
diff --git a/examples/sig.cpp b/examples/sig.cpp
index 2b0a511..eecbeb4 100644
--- a/examples/sig.cpp
+++ b/examples/sig.cpp
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ int main() {
     std::cout << "Enabled signatures:\n" << oqs::Sigs::get_enabled_sigs();
 
     oqs::bytes message = "This is the message to sign"_bytes;
-    std::string sig_name = "Dilithium2";
+    std::string sig_name = "ML-DSA-44";
     oqs::Signature signer{sig_name};
     std::cout << "\n\nSignature details:\n" << signer.get_details();
 
diff --git a/unit_tests/tests/test_kem.cpp b/unit_tests/tests/test_kem.cpp
index 3a67c60..4b3c028 100644
--- a/unit_tests/tests/test_kem.cpp
+++ b/unit_tests/tests/test_kem.cpp
@@ -52,18 +52,20 @@ void test_kem_wrong_ciphertext(const std::string& kem_name) {
     oqs::bytes wrong_ciphertext = oqs::rand::randombytes(ciphertext.size());
     oqs::bytes shared_secret_client;
     try {
+        // this line should throw
         shared_secret_client = client.decap_secret(wrong_ciphertext);
+        // if not, test should fail
+        bool is_valid = (shared_secret_client == shared_secret_server);
+        if (is_valid)
+            std::cerr << kem_name << ": shared secrets should not coincide"
+                      << std::endl;
+        EXPECT_FALSE(is_valid);
     } catch (std::exception& e) {
         if (e.what() == std::string{"Can not decapsulate secret"})
             return;
         else
             throw; // this is another un-expected exception
     }
-    bool is_valid = (shared_secret_client == shared_secret_server);
-    if (is_valid)
-        std::cerr << kem_name << ": shared secrets should not coincide"
-                  << std::endl;
-    EXPECT_FALSE(is_valid);
 }
 
 TEST(oqs_KeyEncapsulation, Correctness) {