diff --git a/RELEASE-NOTES b/RELEASE-NOTES
index 45f2e5b45..86db7b1b7 100644
--- a/RELEASE-NOTES
+++ b/RELEASE-NOTES
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# Release 1.7.1:  bugfixes.
+
+
 # Release 1.7
 
 * The Classic GUI can be extended with plugins. Developers who want to
diff --git a/lib/version.py b/lib/version.py
index 1ed992c93..2c577e678 100644
--- a/lib/version.py
+++ b/lib/version.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-ELECTRUM_VERSION = "1.7"    # version of the client package
+ELECTRUM_VERSION = "1.7.1"  # version of the client package
 PROTOCOL_VERSION = '0.6'    # protocol version requested
 SEED_VERSION     = 4        # bump this every time the seed generation is modified
 TRANSLATION_ID   = 3992     # version of the wiki page