diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 75db714c1..63a9b6413 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 GNU coreutils NEWS                                    -*- outline -*-
 
-* Major changes in release 5.3.1-cvs (2005-??-??) [unstable]
+* Major changes in release 5.90-cvs (2005-??-??) [unstable]
 
 ** Bring back support for `head -NUM', `tail -NUM', etc. even when
   conforming to POSIX 1003.1-2001.  The following changes apply only
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 1c21abcc9..833ecd244 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ dnl Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
 
 dnl Written by Jim Meyering.
 
-AC_INIT([GNU coreutils],[5.3.1-cvs],[bug-coreutils@gnu.org])
+AC_INIT([GNU coreutils],[5.90-cvs],[bug-coreutils@gnu.org])
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR(src/ls.c)
 
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR(build-aux)