diff --git a/django/__init__.py b/django/__init__.py
index 815646a095..9c517c5561 100644
--- a/django/__init__.py
+++ b/django/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-VERSION = (1, 3, 7, 'final', 0)
+VERSION = (1, 3, 8, 'alpha', 0)
 
 def get_version():
     version = '%s.%s' % (VERSION[0], VERSION[1])