diff --git a/README b/README
index 42c87dfea806..c8c2728de544 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-This is Python version 2.2
+This is Python version 2.3 (pre-alpha)
 ==========================
 
 Copyright (c) 2001, 2002 Python Software Foundation.