diff --git a/django/__init__.py b/django/__init__.py
index 4e6eeb0a27..121db01a28 100644
--- a/django/__init__.py
+++ b/django/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from django.utils.version import get_version
 
-VERSION = (2, 1, 5, 'final', 0)
+VERSION = (2, 1, 6, 'alpha', 0)
 
 __version__ = get_version(VERSION)