diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index abc4c9fb8..103066707 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1003,7 +1003,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "deltachat"
-version = "1.49.0"
+version = "1.50.0-alpha.0"
 dependencies = [
  "ansi_term 0.12.1",
  "anyhow",
@@ -1079,7 +1079,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "deltachat_ffi"
-version = "1.49.0"
+version = "1.50.0-alpha.0"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "async-std",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 0223799e5..bb4fbc9de 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "deltachat"
-version = "1.49.0"
+version = "1.50.0-alpha.0"
 authors = ["Delta Chat Developers (ML) <delta@codespeak.net>"]
 edition = "2018"
 license = "MPL-2.0"
diff --git a/deltachat-ffi/Cargo.toml b/deltachat-ffi/Cargo.toml
index 578c12198..0d1b1f458 100644
--- a/deltachat-ffi/Cargo.toml
+++ b/deltachat-ffi/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "deltachat_ffi"
-version = "1.49.0"
+version = "1.50.0-alpha.0"
 description = "Deltachat FFI"
 authors = ["Delta Chat Developers (ML) <delta@codespeak.net>"]
 edition = "2018"
diff --git a/set_core_version.py b/set_core_version.py
index 5cc5d099c..d1f4eb099 100644
--- a/set_core_version.py
+++ b/set_core_version.py
@@ -63,13 +63,14 @@ def main():
     ffi_toml = read_toml_version("deltachat-ffi/Cargo.toml")
     assert core_toml == ffi_toml, (core_toml, ffi_toml)
 
-    for line in open("CHANGELOG.md"):
-        ## 1.25.0
-        if line.startswith("## "):
-            if line[2:].strip().startswith(newversion):
-                break
-    else:
-        raise SystemExit("CHANGELOG.md contains no entry for version: {}".format(newversion))
+    if "alpha" not in newversion:
+        for line in open("CHANGELOG.md"):
+            ## 1.25.0
+            if line.startswith("## "):
+                if line[2:].strip().startswith(newversion):
+                    break
+        else:
+            raise SystemExit("CHANGELOG.md contains no entry for version: {}".format(newversion))
 
     replace_toml_version("Cargo.toml", newversion)
     replace_toml_version("deltachat-ffi/Cargo.toml", newversion)