diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 6eb69fe3ae9..7d0d37fd06b 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
 # recent setuptools versions will *TRANSFORM* something like 'X.Y.Zdev' into 'X.Y.Z.dev0', with a warning like
 #   UserWarning: Normalizing '2.4.0dev' to '2.4.0.dev0'
 # This causes problems further up the dependency chain...
-VERSION = '5.0.0.dev0'
+VERSION = '5.0.0beta1'
 
 MAJ_VER = VERSION.split('.')[0]
 MAJMIN_VER = '.'.join(VERSION.split('.')[0:2])