diff --git a/CHANGELOG.txt b/CHANGELOG.txt
index 72d9d8fc9f0de0c6f7be1b6f77320b647067f529..51e551eb09793d9c901d5e3d382aa61d46ea24d1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.txt
+++ b/CHANGELOG.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 
+Drupal 7.44, xxxx-xx-xx (development version)
+-----------------------
+
 Drupal 7.43, 2016-02-24
 -----------------------
 - Fixed security issues (multiple vulnerabilities). See SA-CORE-2016-001.
diff --git a/includes/bootstrap.inc b/includes/bootstrap.inc
index 0428bd362d10bda31955b1030e9b273221815434..c557def8e00db5b394de63e72fc7235d255aaf10 100644
--- a/includes/bootstrap.inc
+++ b/includes/bootstrap.inc
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 /**
  * The current system version.
  */
-define('VERSION', '7.43');
+define('VERSION', '7.44-dev');
 
 /**
  * Core API compatibility.