diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index fd3b27ff2..496f43efb 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Process this file with autoconf to produce a configure script.
 
-AC_INIT([meep],[m4_esyscmd(./version.sh 1.28.0)])
+AC_INIT([meep],[m4_esyscmd(./version.sh 1.29.0-beta)])
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR(src/step.cpp)
 
 # Shared-library version number; indicates api compatibility, and is