diff --git a/build/version.props b/build/version.props
index 300de7af6..71e65929a 100644
--- a/build/version.props
+++ b/build/version.props
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   <PropertyGroup>
 
     <!-- package version of grpc-dotnet -->
-    <GrpcDotnetVersion>2.38.0-dev</GrpcDotnetVersion>
+    <GrpcDotnetVersion>2.38.0-pre1</GrpcDotnetVersion>
     
     <!-- assembly version of grpc-dotnet -->
     <GrpcDotnetAssemblyVersion>2.0.0.0</GrpcDotnetAssemblyVersion>