diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 0893c58cc..5d16ecd79 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@
 MAJOR = 5
 MINOR = 0
 MICRO = 0
-PRERELEASE = ""
-IS_RELEASED = False
+PRERELEASE = "rc1"
+IS_RELEASED = True
 
 # If this file is part of a Git export (for example created with "git archive",
 # or downloaded from GitHub), ARCHIVE_COMMIT_HASH gives the full hash of the