diff --git a/Lib/distutils/__init__.py b/Lib/distutils/__init__.py
index 32fc276c4073..2ba82bd58dd3 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/__init__.py
@@ -10,4 +10,4 @@
 
 __revision__ = "$Id$"
 
-__version__ = "0.8.2"
+__version__ = "0.9pre"