diff --git a/.prev-version b/.prev-version
index 5154b3f6..6a6a3d8e 100644
--- a/.prev-version
+++ b/.prev-version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2.6
+2.6.1
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 0da5bdfa..f940d8ed 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 GNU Bison NEWS
 
+* Noteworthy changes in release ?.? (????-??-??) [?]
+
+
 * Noteworthy changes in release 2.6.1 (2012-07-30) [stable]
 
  Bison no longer executes user-specified M4 code when processing a grammar.