diff --git a/bitsandbytes/__init__.py b/bitsandbytes/__init__.py
index 7ede5dee9..78c99355b 100644
--- a/bitsandbytes/__init__.py
+++ b/bitsandbytes/__init__.py
@@ -21,4 +21,4 @@
     "optim.optimizer.MockArgs": False,
 }
 
-__version__ = "0.43.3"
+__version__ = "0.44.0.dev"
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 6a92a9dce..beba00922 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ def has_ext_modules(self):
 
 setup(
     name="bitsandbytes",
-    version="0.43.3",
+    version="0.44.0.dev",
     author="Tim Dettmers",
     author_email="dettmers@cs.washington.edu",
     description="k-bit optimizers and matrix multiplication routines.",