diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index b654cd4c348b9f50fb48936bd1e02abee86156e4..c3e8c303c63f87630d7f42081666cd651f0ed9f9 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-12.8.0-pre
+12.9.0-pre