diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 12c2e3ab602571e13797ff25ce4f9b37268f6fb0..dd84678094d5fbc4678484b286640eae75f90c1c 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-17.3.0-devel
+17.3.0-rc1