diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 83a48c8b2..b9caf34c0 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-Synapse 0.33.2 (2018-08-07)
-===========================
+Synapse 0.33.2rc1 (2018-08-07)
+==============================
 
 Features
 --------
diff --git a/synapse/__init__.py b/synapse/__init__.py
index a14d578e3..807d78d79 100644
--- a/synapse/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/__init__.py
@@ -17,4 +17,4 @@
 """ This is a reference implementation of a Matrix home server.
 """
 
-__version__ = "0.33.2"
+__version__ = "0.33.2rc1"