diff --git a/version/VERSION b/version/VERSION
index f8e233b27..27167ba29 100644
--- a/version/VERSION
+++ b/version/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.9.0
+1.9.0-alpha
diff --git a/version/version.go b/version/version.go
index 1fa6f345f..6341dd54e 100644
--- a/version/version.go
+++ b/version/version.go
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ var (
 	// then it means that it is a final release. Otherwise, this is a pre-release
 	// such as "dev" (in development), "beta", "rc1", etc.
 
-	VersionPrerelease = "dev"
+	VersionPrerelease = "alpha"
 
 	VersionMetadata = ""
 )