diff --git a/docs/source/changelog.md b/docs/source/changelog.md
index 0877d762..d5f12850 100644
--- a/docs/source/changelog.md
+++ b/docs/source/changelog.md
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ Highlights:
 <!-- FIXME: update to this ref prior to release -->
 <!-- ([full changelog](https://github.com/jupyterhub/jupyterhub/compare/1.1.0...1.2.0)) -->
 
-([full changelog](https://github.com/jupyterhub/jupyterhub/compare/1.1.0...f8cbda9c3c8382c3331ba3c8bac07f0bd8bfb623))
+([full changelog](https://github.com/jupyterhub/jupyterhub/compare/1.1.0...1.2.0b1))
 
 
 #### Enhancements made
diff --git a/jupyterhub/_version.py b/jupyterhub/_version.py
index f3376877..3f64fe6f 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/_version.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/_version.py
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ version_info = (
     1,
     2,
     0,
-    # "",  # release (b1, rc1, or "" for final or dev)
-    "dev",  # dev or nothing for beta/rc/stable releases
+    "b1",  # release (b1, rc1, or "" for final or dev)
+    # "dev",  # dev or nothing for beta/rc/stable releases
 )
 
 # pep 440 version: no dot before beta/rc, but before .dev