diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 48f2f8dd..d5082171 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-CHANGES FROM 3.0 to X.X
+CHANGES FROM 3.0 to 3.1
 
 * Add support for adding a note to a key binding (with bind-key -N) and use
   this to add descriptions to the default key bindings. A new -N flag to
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 5fba1eaf..c0098591 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # configure.ac
 
-AC_INIT([tmux], next-3.1)
+AC_INIT([tmux], 3.1-rc)
 AC_PREREQ([2.60])
 
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR(etc)