diff --git a/IPython/core/release.py b/IPython/core/release.py
index 2808fa3..3e57468 100644
--- a/IPython/core/release.py
+++ b/IPython/core/release.py
@@ -22,18 +22,16 @@ name = 'ipython'
 _version_major = 1
 _version_minor = 0
 _version_micro = 0  # use 0 for first of series, number for 1 and above
-_version_extra = 'dev'
-#_version_extra = 'rc1'
+# _version_extra = 'dev'
+_version_extra = 'a1'
 # _version_extra = ''  # Uncomment this for full releases
 
 # Construct full version string from these.
 _ver = [_version_major, _version_minor]
-if _version_micro:
+if _version_extra != 'dev':
     _ver.append(_version_micro)
-if _version_extra:
-    _ver.append(_version_extra)
 
-__version__ = '.'.join(map(str, _ver))
+__version__ = '.'.join(map(str, _ver)) + _version_extra
 
 version = __version__  # backwards compatibility name
 version_info = (_version_major, _version_minor, _version_micro, _version_extra)