diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 943f9cbc4ec7ee28e6febd1d4451df4c39bcb193..f8eeee10f7f43e518cd825233b9c0420b03df1a5 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.7.1
+1.7.2-rc1
diff --git a/arkindex/system_workers.yml b/arkindex/system_workers.yml
index ce6d9d21ca643017ef72b77ddd96f3a153055aac..e51f849b490861f8bc198f7e5f625a31f51e16c6 100644
--- a/arkindex/system_workers.yml
+++ b/arkindex/system_workers.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # When releasing Arkindex, check that the Docker images set here are up to date,
 # then update the `version` to the current Arkindex version as set in the `VERSION` file
 # to confirm that the images have been manually checked.
-version: 1.7.1
+version: 1.7.2-rc1
 
 features:
     file_import: