diff --git a/HISTORY.rst b/HISTORY.rst
index 1068c138..3cc5f75f 100644
--- a/HISTORY.rst
+++ b/HISTORY.rst
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ PlatformIO Core 6
 
 **A professional collaborative platform for declarative, safety-critical, and test-driven embedded development.**
 
+6.1.6 (2022-??-??)
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
 6.1.5 (2022-11-01)
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/platformio/__init__.py b/platformio/__init__.py
index 01be8126..be75cf45 100644
--- a/platformio/__init__.py
+++ b/platformio/__init__.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 import sys
 
-VERSION = (6, 1, 5)
+VERSION = (6, 1, "6a1")
 __version__ = ".".join([str(s) for s in VERSION])
 
 __title__ = "platformio"