diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e7152fe3e9d7..393308220473 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 VERSION = 2
 PATCHLEVEL = 6
 SUBLEVEL = 16
-EXTRAVERSION = .49
+EXTRAVERSION = .50-rc1
 NAME=Stable Penguin
 
 # *DOCUMENTATION*