diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
deleted file mode 100644
index 1aba38f6..00000000
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-include LICENSE
diff --git a/platformio/__init__.py b/platformio/__init__.py
index eb542a8d..bf026151 100644
--- a/platformio/__init__.py
+++ b/platformio/__init__.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 import sys
 
-VERSION = (6, 1, "6a4")
+VERSION = (6, 1, "6rc1")
 __version__ = ".".join([str(s) for s in VERSION])
 
 __title__ = "platformio"