diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index cf3e5031ed..f9acf0f503 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-## UNRELEASED
+## 1.9.0-beta1 (October 12, 2020)
 
 BREAKING CHANGES:
 
diff --git a/version/version.go b/version/version.go
index ae3dc61e5b..43c6141ead 100644
--- a/version/version.go
+++ b/version/version.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ var (
 	// A pre-release marker for the version. If this is "" (empty string)
 	// then it means that it is a final release. Otherwise, this is a pre-release
 	// such as "dev" (in development), "beta", "rc1", etc.
-	VersionPrerelease = "dev"
+	VersionPrerelease = "beta1"
 )
 
 // GetHumanVersion composes the parts of the version in a way that's suitable