diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 29a261b0f..e8f4b251d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 #
 
 PROG      := busybox
-VERSION   := 0.60.0
+VERSION   := 0.61.pre
 BUILDTIME := $(shell TZ=UTC date -u "+%Y.%m.%d-%H:%M%z")
 export VERSION
 
diff --git a/busybox.spec b/busybox.spec
index 339311770..cce20583e 100644
--- a/busybox.spec
+++ b/busybox.spec
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 %define name	busybox
 %define epoch   0
-%define version	0.60.0
+%define version	0.61.pre
 %define release	%(date -I | sed -e 's/-/_/g')
 %define serial  1
 
diff --git a/examples/busybox.spec b/examples/busybox.spec
index 339311770..cce20583e 100644
--- a/examples/busybox.spec
+++ b/examples/busybox.spec
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 %define name	busybox
 %define epoch   0
-%define version	0.60.0
+%define version	0.61.pre
 %define release	%(date -I | sed -e 's/-/_/g')
 %define serial  1