diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 87f2c205..ae3333c7 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-version 0.7.2dev (unreleased)
+version 0.8.0dev (unreleased)
 -----------------------------
 - fixed show_xpa_commands bug sending None instead of empty string
   to the xpa library
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index da6037cd..7d81972b 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
 
 
 # VERSION should be PEP386 compatible (http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0386)
-VERSION = '0.7.2dev'
+VERSION = '0.8.0dev'
 
 # Indicates if this version is a release version
 RELEASE = 'dev' not in VERSION