diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 60919325d670c10fbe3b68fccb0fa77034f1f9c2..981d3d2169143b35d1fe1b28fd0eabd14b1557c6 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-10.8.0-pre
+10.9.0-pre