diff --git a/beets/__init__.py b/beets/__init__.py
index e0fa5a025..933b6afce 100644
--- a/beets/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/__init__.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
 # included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
 
-__version__ = '1.0b16'
+__version__ = '1.0rc1'
 __author__ = 'Adrian Sampson <adrian@radbox.org>'
 
 import beets.library
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 8fa2ea9a5..910b9806c 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
-1.0b16 (in development)
+1.0rc1 (in development)
 -----------------------
 
 * New plugin: :doc:`/plugins/convert` transcodes music and embeds album art
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 95cd09e47..09790f717 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ master_doc = 'index'
 project = u'beets'
 copyright = u'2012, Adrian Sampson'
 
-version = '1.0b16'
-release = '1.0b16'
+version = '1.0rc1'
+release = '1.0rc1'
 
 pygments_style = 'sphinx'
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 41e74e4f0..f19636b9a 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ if 'sdist' in sys.argv:
     shutil.copytree(os.path.join(docdir, '_build', 'man'), mandir)
 
 setup(name='beets',
-      version='1.0b16',
+      version='1.0rc1',
       description='music tagger and library organizer',
       author='Adrian Sampson',
       author_email='adrian@radbox.org',