diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index b0bae79e0..c62c4b891 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+## Changes in 1.7.1 (in development)
+
+
 ## Changes in 1.7.0
 
 ### Enhancements
diff --git a/xcube/version.py b/xcube/version.py
index a63cd19a2..68bf39742 100644
--- a/xcube/version.py
+++ b/xcube/version.py
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@
 # Permissions are hereby granted under the terms of the MIT License:
 # https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT.
 
-version = "1.7.0"
+version = "1.7.1.dev0"