diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 3512a54373feb4de9cebda2abaf2b4646929a6da..23f381c28db5da930b1863b21dfce60c305cbf96 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-13.2.0-rc43
+13.2.0-rc44