diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index fecc1760b..3ef9f6d5c 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ want to know what's different in 5.0 since 4.5.x, see :ref:`whatsnew5x`.
     ..  ----------------------------
 
 
+Unreleased
+----------
+
+Nothing yet.
+
+
 .. _changes_52:
 
 Version 5.2 --- 2020-07-05
diff --git a/coverage/version.py b/coverage/version.py
index f6440e53e..36a68b560 100644
--- a/coverage/version.py
+++ b/coverage/version.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 # This file is exec'ed in setup.py, don't import anything!
 
 # Same semantics as sys.version_info.
-version_info = (5, 2, 0, "final", 0)
+version_info = (5, 2, 1, "alpha", 0)
 
 
 def _make_version(major, minor, micro, releaselevel, serial):