diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 0d91a54c7d439..210199cf62f35 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.3.0
+0.3.0-prerelease
diff --git a/base/Makefile b/base/Makefile
index 85859dadc87fd..af9ce53218c29 100644
--- a/base/Makefile
+++ b/base/Makefile
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ git_branch = $(shell git branch 2>/dev/null | sed -n '/\* /s///p')
 
 last_tag = $(shell git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null)
 tagged_commit = $(shell [ $$(git describe --tags --exact-match 2>/dev/null) ] && echo true || echo false)
-prerelease = $(shell [ -z "$(last_tag)" -o "$(last_tag)" = "v$(version_string)" ] && echo false || echo true)
 
 origin = $(shell [ -d ../.git/refs/remotes/origin ] && echo "origin/")
 
@@ -78,7 +77,6 @@ endif
 	@echo "    branch::String" >> $@
 	@echo "    build_number::Int" >> $@
 	@echo "    date_string::String" >> $@
-	@echo "    prerelease::Bool" >> $@
 	@echo "    tagged_commit::Bool" >> $@
 	@echo "    fork_master_distance::Int" >> $@
 	@echo "    fork_master_timestamp::Int" >> $@
@@ -93,7 +91,6 @@ endif
 			'\"$(git_branch)\"', \
 			$(build_number), \
 			'\"$(date_string)\"', \
-			$(prerelease), \
 			$(tagged_commit), \
 			$(fork_master_distance), \
 			$(fork_master_timestamp), \
diff --git a/base/version.jl b/base/version.jl
index 9f6a861a424c6..b49a3ebb8118c 100644
--- a/base/version.jl
+++ b/base/version.jl
@@ -182,10 +182,9 @@ end
 
 begin
 # Include build number if we've got at least some distance from a tag (e.g. a release)
-prerelease = BUILD_INFO.prerelease ? "-prerelease" : ""
 build_number = BUILD_INFO.build_number != 0 ? "+$(BUILD_INFO.build_number)" : ""
 try
-    global const VERSION = convert(VersionNumber, "$(BUILD_INFO.version_string)$(prerelease)$(build_number)")
+    global const VERSION = convert(VersionNumber, "$(BUILD_INFO.version_string)$(build_number)")
 catch e
     println("while creating Base.VERSION, ignoring error $e")
     global const VERSION = VersionNumber(0)