diff --git a/lib/version.py b/lib/version.py
index c2d2e2e50..a084209fb 100644
--- a/lib/version.py
+++ b/lib/version.py
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-ELECTRUM_VERSION = "0.49"
+ELECTRUM_VERSION = "0.49a"
 SEED_VERSION = 4  # bump this everytime the seed generation is modified