diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 219f1c881b..c3bb0fe3e4 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ OpenSSL Releases
 OpenSSL 3.4
 -----------
 
-### Changes between 3.3 and 3.4 [xx XXX xxxx]
+### Changes between 3.3 and 3.4 alpha 1 [5 Sep 2024]
 
  * Improved base64 BIO correctness and error reporting.
 
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index c2797a49ce..2f848c0e0d 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ OpenSSL Releases
 OpenSSL 3.4
 -----------
 
-### Major changes between OpenSSL 3.3 and OpenSSL 3.4 [under development]
+### Major changes between OpenSSL 3.3 and OpenSSL 3.4 alpha 1 [in pre-release]
 
 OpenSSL 3.4.0 is a feature release adding significant new functionality to
 OpenSSL.
diff --git a/VERSION.dat b/VERSION.dat
index 5bdeaebedc..7a333cf7e7 100644
--- a/VERSION.dat
+++ b/VERSION.dat
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 MAJOR=3
 MINOR=4
 PATCH=0
-PRE_RELEASE_TAG=dev
+PRE_RELEASE_TAG=alpha1
 BUILD_METADATA=
-RELEASE_DATE=""
+RELEASE_DATE="5 Sep 2024"
 SHLIB_VERSION=3