diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index d55cd9e43..4e47a12d6 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ endif()
 
 # set up versioning.
 set(DF_VERSION "0.44.02")
-SET(DFHACK_RELEASE "alpha1")
+SET(DFHACK_RELEASE "beta1")
 SET(DFHACK_PRERELEASE TRUE)
 
 set(DFHACK_VERSION "${DF_VERSION}-${DFHACK_RELEASE}")