diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 8e4a561d4..5272760a4 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -21,6 +21,11 @@ want to know what's different in 5.0 since 4.5.x, see :ref:`whatsnew5x`.
     ..  Version 9.8.1 --- 2027-07-27
     ..  ----------------------------
 
+Unreleased
+----------
+
+Nothing yet.
+
 
 .. _changes_504:
 
diff --git a/coverage/version.py b/coverage/version.py
index 9cef0cf1e..8186d34c9 100644
--- a/coverage/version.py
+++ b/coverage/version.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 # This file is exec'ed in setup.py, don't import anything!
 
 # Same semantics as sys.version_info.
-version_info = (5, 0, 4, 'final', 0)
+version_info = (5, 0, 5, 'alpha', 0)
 
 
 def _make_version(major, minor, micro, releaselevel, serial):