diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 1f1d7928f..786d9a43d 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-Synapse 1.14.0 (2020-05-26)
-===========================
+Synapse 1.14.0rc1 (2020-05-26)
+==============================
 
 Features
 --------
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index f0105d3e2..6327147d8 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     pass
 
-__version__ = "1.14.0"
+__version__ = "1.14.0rc1"
 
 if bool(os.environ.get("SYNAPSE_TEST_PATCH_LOG_CONTEXTS", False)):
     # We import here so that we don't have to install a bunch of deps when