diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 19270385e..e62f3ef1c 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.16.5
+0.16.5-dev
diff --git a/helpers/prepare-release/main.go b/helpers/prepare-release/main.go
index 703d85e70..f01fe8a2f 100644
--- a/helpers/prepare-release/main.go
+++ b/helpers/prepare-release/main.go
@@ -323,6 +323,11 @@ func updateVersion() {
 }
 
 func updateVersionDev() {
+	err := os.WriteFile("VERSION", []byte(opts.Version+"-dev\n"), 0644)
+	if err != nil {
+		die("unable to write version to file: %v", err)
+	}
+
 	newVersion := fmt.Sprintf(`const version = "%s-dev (compiled manually)"`, opts.Version)
 	replace(versionCodeFile, versionPattern, newVersion)