diff --git a/tools/VERSION b/tools/VERSION
index b30807e..a787e17 100644
--- a/tools/VERSION
+++ b/tools/VERSION
@@ -29,11 +29,11 @@
 #  * Deprecating an old ABI version:
 #     - increase OLDEST_SUPPORTED_ABI_VERSION to the version that is supported.
 #
-CHANNEL dev
+CHANNEL beta
 MAJOR 2
 MINOR 9
 PATCH 0
 PRERELEASE 8
-PRERELEASE_PATCH 0
+PRERELEASE_PATCH 1
 ABI_VERSION 32
 OLDEST_SUPPORTED_ABI_VERSION 32