diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index e1c8e3dfe4..3f6be8ce31 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-6.0
+6.0-alpha1
  * Improve performance when calculating settled placements during range movements (CASSANDRA-21144)
  * Make shadow gossip round parameters configurable for testing (CASSANDRA-21149)
  * Avoid potential gossip thread deadlock during decommission (CASSANDRA-21143)
diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 9b108ad47a..81ca0688da 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
     <property name="debuglevel" value="source,lines,vars"/>
 
     <!-- default version and SCM information -->
-    <property name="base.version" value="6.0"/>
+    <property name="base.version" value="6.0-alpha1"/>
     <property name="scm.connection" value="scm:https://gitbox.apache.org/repos/asf/cassandra.git"/>
     <property name="scm.developerConnection" value="scm:https://gitbox.apache.org/repos/asf/cassandra.git"/>
     <property name="scm.url" value="https://gitbox.apache.org/repos/asf?p=cassandra.git"/>
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index e87bc9bae1..f6bacf2151 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-cassandra (6.0) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
+cassandra (6.0~alpha1) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
 
   * New release