diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index bd1b353424b5c65c02535a4822c5ef15ae5dc7dc..c440b4a8696227e10617f0e78fcfec0c2b80c2d4 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-16.8.0-pre
\ No newline at end of file
+16.9.0-pre
\ No newline at end of file