diff --git a/lib/liquid/version.rb b/lib/liquid/version.rb
index 3720853..f6e01b5 100644
--- a/lib/liquid/version.rb
+++ b/lib/liquid/version.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # encoding: utf-8
 module Liquid
-  VERSION = "4.0.0.alpha"
+  VERSION = "4.0.0.rc1"
 end