diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index b2d902bed21b609fae69cc1b58b7de930780fb1d..8f127567b718fc9b32b4f8f6dcacce9e3f94a13f 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-12.10.0-rc43
+12.10.0-rc44