diff --git a/internal/version/version.go b/internal/version/version.go
index 024c39ca37..a209c5da86 100644
--- a/internal/version/version.go
+++ b/internal/version/version.go
@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@ package version
 // Tag specifies the current release tag. It needs to be manually
 // updated. A test checks that the value of Tag never points to a
 // git tag that is older than HEAD.
-const Tag = "v1.39.0"
+const Tag = "v1.39.0-rc.1"