diff --git a/.libecl_version b/.libecl_version
index 5f10ee430d..a3ea52d099 100644
--- a/.libecl_version
+++ b/.libecl_version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-export LIBECL_VERSION=2.7.rc0
+export LIBECL_VERSION=2.8.0a0