diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 939e2dae1ef3..78abb38a7d72 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@ VERSION_MAJOR = 4
 VERSION_MINOR = 0
 PATCHLEVEL = 0
 VERSION_TWEAK = 0
-EXTRAVERSION = rc2
+EXTRAVERSION = rc3