diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index f714dc925d030ce6a991d9a2212aa9bb46737e88..6e125f9522c266507c2a09ec829536900a9cdef3 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -23,4 +23,4 @@
 #                                 systems refuse to accept these arbitrary version strings.
 
 # The current version string:
-VERSION=1.4.0rc1+hgX
+VERSION=1.4.0rc2+hgX