diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index f148885c..477f8c4d 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-AC_INIT(irssi, 0.8.17)
+AC_INIT(irssi, 0.8.18-head)
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([src])
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR(build-aux)
 AC_PREREQ(2.50)