diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 09e274a4c5..909cb8fbd9 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 PATH
   remote: .
   specs:
-    prism (1.9.0)
+    prism (2.0.0.rc1)
 
 GEM
   remote: https://rubygems.org/
diff --git a/docs/releasing.md b/docs/releasing.md
index 53aa609e1f..d8d32922e0 100644
--- a/docs/releasing.md
+++ b/docs/releasing.md
@@ -23,9 +23,10 @@ ruby -pi -e 'gsub(/PRISM_VERSION_PATCH \d+/, %Q{PRISM_VERSION_PATCH #{ENV["PRISM
 ruby -pi -e 'gsub(/PRISM_VERSION ".+?"/, %Q{PRISM_VERSION "#{ENV["PRISM_VERSION"]}"})' include/prism/version.h
 ruby -pi -e 'gsub(/"version": ".+?"/, %Q{"version": "#{ENV["PRISM_VERSION"]}"})' javascript/package.json
 ruby -pi -e 'gsub(/lossy\(\), ".+?"/, %Q{lossy(), "#{ENV["PRISM_VERSION"]}"})' rust/ruby-prism-sys/tests/utils_tests.rs
-ruby -pi -e 'gsub(/\d+, "prism major/, %Q{#{ENV["PRISM_MAJOR"]}, "prism major})' templates/java/org/ruby_lang/prism/Loader.java.erb
-ruby -pi -e 'gsub(/\d+, "prism minor/, %Q{#{ENV["PRISM_MINOR"]}, "prism minor})' templates/java/org/ruby_lang/prism/Loader.java.erb
-ruby -pi -e 'gsub(/\d+, "prism patch/, %Q{#{ENV["PRISM_PATCH"]}, "prism patch})' templates/java/org/ruby_lang/prism/Loader.java.erb
+ruby -pi -e 'gsub(/assertEquals\(".+?", prism.version\(\)\)/, %Q{assertEquals("#{ENV["PRISM_VERSION"]}", prism.version())})' java/wasm/src/test/java/org/jruby/parser/prism/WASMTest.java
+ruby -pi -e 'gsub(/\d+, "prism major/, %Q{#{ENV["PRISM_MAJOR"]}, "prism major})' templates/java/api/src/main/java-templates/org/ruby_lang/prism/Loader.java.erb
+ruby -pi -e 'gsub(/\d+, "prism minor/, %Q{#{ENV["PRISM_MINOR"]}, "prism minor})' templates/java/api/src/main/java-templates/org/ruby_lang/prism/Loader.java.erb
+ruby -pi -e 'gsub(/\d+, "prism patch/, %Q{#{ENV["PRISM_PATCH"]}, "prism patch})' templates/java/api/src/main/java-templates/org/ruby_lang/prism/Loader.java.erb
 ruby -pi -e 'gsub(/MAJOR_VERSION = \d+/, %Q{MAJOR_VERSION = #{ENV["PRISM_MAJOR"]}})' templates/javascript/src/deserialize.js.erb
 ruby -pi -e 'gsub(/MINOR_VERSION = \d+/, %Q{MINOR_VERSION = #{ENV["PRISM_MINOR"]}})' templates/javascript/src/deserialize.js.erb
 ruby -pi -e 'gsub(/PATCH_VERSION = \d+/, %Q{PATCH_VERSION = #{ENV["PRISM_PATCH"]}})' templates/javascript/src/deserialize.js.erb
diff --git a/ext/prism/extension.h b/ext/prism/extension.h
index 7959cd8613..55e6b5175e 100644
--- a/ext/prism/extension.h
+++ b/ext/prism/extension.h
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #ifndef PRISM_EXT_NODE_H
 #define PRISM_EXT_NODE_H
 
-#define EXPECTED_PRISM_VERSION "1.9.0"
+#define EXPECTED_PRISM_VERSION "2.0.0.rc1"
 
 #include <ruby.h>
 #include <ruby/encoding.h>
diff --git a/gemfiles/2.7/Gemfile.lock b/gemfiles/2.7/Gemfile.lock
index 152ff8a21f..ac91cd02fa 100644
--- a/gemfiles/2.7/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/gemfiles/2.7/Gemfile.lock
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 PATH
   remote: ../..
   specs:
-    prism (1.9.0)
+    prism (2.0.0.rc1)
 
 GEM
   remote: https://rubygems.org/
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ GEM
     parser (3.3.12.0)
       ast (~> 2.4.1)
       racc
-    power_assert (3.0.1)
+    power_assert (3.1.0)
     racc (1.8.1)
     rake (13.4.2)
     rake-compiler (1.3.2)
diff --git a/gemfiles/3.0/Gemfile.lock b/gemfiles/3.0/Gemfile.lock
index c77bd64fbd..94110f3d06 100644
--- a/gemfiles/3.0/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/gemfiles/3.0/Gemfile.lock
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 PATH
   remote: ../..
   specs:
-    prism (1.9.0)
+    prism (2.0.0.rc1)
 
 GEM
   remote: https://rubygems.org/
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ GEM
     parser (3.3.12.0)
       ast (~> 2.4.1)
       racc
-    power_assert (3.0.1)
+    power_assert (3.1.0)
     racc (1.8.1)
     rake (13.4.2)
     rake-compiler (1.3.2)
diff --git a/gemfiles/3.1/Gemfile.lock b/gemfiles/3.1/Gemfile.lock
index ae7f862e2f..2e145f8701 100644
--- a/gemfiles/3.1/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/gemfiles/3.1/Gemfile.lock
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 PATH
   remote: ../..
   specs:
-    prism (1.9.0)
+    prism (2.0.0.rc1)
 
 GEM
   remote: https://rubygems.org/
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ GEM
     parser (3.3.12.0)
       ast (~> 2.4.1)
       racc
-    power_assert (3.0.1)
+    power_assert (3.1.0)
     racc (1.8.1)
     rake (13.4.2)
     rake-compiler (1.3.2)
diff --git a/gemfiles/3.2/Gemfile.lock b/gemfiles/3.2/Gemfile.lock
index a0aafd5318..a58def2a2a 100644
--- a/gemfiles/3.2/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/gemfiles/3.2/Gemfile.lock
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 PATH
   remote: ../..
   specs:
-    prism (1.9.0)
+    prism (2.0.0.rc1)
 
 GEM
   remote: https://rubygems.org/
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ GEM
     parser (3.3.12.0)
       ast (~> 2.4.1)
       racc
-    power_assert (3.0.1)
+    power_assert (3.1.0)
     racc (1.8.1)
     rake (13.4.2)
     rake-compiler (1.3.2)
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ GEM
     ruby_parser (3.22.0)
       racc (~> 1.5)
       sexp_processor (~> 4.16)
-    sexp_processor (4.17.5)
+    sexp_processor (4.17.6)
     test-unit (3.7.8)
       power_assert
 
diff --git a/gemfiles/3.3/Gemfile.lock b/gemfiles/3.3/Gemfile.lock
index 30c8a2eb65..1af4495fd0 100644
--- a/gemfiles/3.3/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/gemfiles/3.3/Gemfile.lock
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 PATH
   remote: ../..
   specs:
-    prism (1.9.0)
+    prism (2.0.0.rc1)
 
 GEM
   remote: https://rubygems.org/
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ GEM
     parser (3.3.12.0)
       ast (~> 2.4.1)
       racc
-    power_assert (3.0.1)
+    power_assert (3.1.0)
     racc (1.8.1)
     rake (13.4.2)
     rake-compiler (1.3.2)
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ GEM
     ruby_parser (3.22.0)
       racc (~> 1.5)
       sexp_processor (~> 4.16)
-    sexp_processor (4.17.5)
+    sexp_processor (4.17.6)
     test-unit (3.7.8)
       power_assert
 
diff --git a/gemfiles/3.4/Gemfile.lock b/gemfiles/3.4/Gemfile.lock
index c4be36ee78..db9d181ba4 100644
--- a/gemfiles/3.4/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/gemfiles/3.4/Gemfile.lock
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 PATH
   remote: ../..
   specs:
-    prism (1.9.0)
+    prism (2.0.0.rc1)
 
 GEM
   remote: https://rubygems.org/
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ GEM
     parser (3.3.12.0)
       ast (~> 2.4.1)
       racc
-    power_assert (3.0.1)
+    power_assert (3.1.0)
     racc (1.8.1)
     rake (13.4.2)
     rake-compiler (1.3.2)
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ GEM
     ruby_parser (3.22.0)
       racc (~> 1.5)
       sexp_processor (~> 4.16)
-    sexp_processor (4.17.5)
+    sexp_processor (4.17.6)
     test-unit (3.7.8)
       power_assert
 
diff --git a/gemfiles/4.0/Gemfile.lock b/gemfiles/4.0/Gemfile.lock
index 2eb78e541a..fc18232f4a 100644
--- a/gemfiles/4.0/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/gemfiles/4.0/Gemfile.lock
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 PATH
   remote: ../..
   specs:
-    prism (1.9.0)
+    prism (2.0.0.rc1)
 
 GEM
   remote: https://rubygems.org/
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ GEM
     parser (3.3.12.0)
       ast (~> 2.4.1)
       racc
-    power_assert (3.0.1)
+    power_assert (3.1.0)
     racc (1.8.1)
     rake (13.4.2)
     rake-compiler (1.3.2)
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ GEM
     ruby_parser (3.22.0)
       racc (~> 1.5)
       sexp_processor (~> 4.16)
-    sexp_processor (4.17.5)
+    sexp_processor (4.17.6)
     test-unit (3.7.8)
       power_assert
 
diff --git a/gemfiles/4.1/Gemfile.lock b/gemfiles/4.1/Gemfile.lock
index f93d7a1ce6..a44e78ba25 100644
--- a/gemfiles/4.1/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/gemfiles/4.1/Gemfile.lock
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 PATH
   remote: ../..
   specs:
-    prism (1.9.0)
+    prism (2.0.0.rc1)
 
 GEM
   remote: https://rubygems.org/
diff --git a/include/prism/version.h b/include/prism/version.h
index 181b398462..c67b8a5970 100644
--- a/include/prism/version.h
+++ b/include/prism/version.h
@@ -11,12 +11,12 @@
 /**
  * The major version of the Prism library as an int.
  */
-#define PRISM_VERSION_MAJOR 1
+#define PRISM_VERSION_MAJOR 2
 
 /**
  * The minor version of the Prism library as an int.
  */
-#define PRISM_VERSION_MINOR 9
+#define PRISM_VERSION_MINOR 0
 
 /**
  * The patch version of the Prism library as an int.
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 /**
  * The version of the Prism library as a constant string.
  */
-#define PRISM_VERSION "1.9.0"
+#define PRISM_VERSION "2.0.0.rc1"
 
 /**
  * The prism version and the serialization format.
diff --git a/java/wasm/src/test/java/org/jruby/parser/prism/WASMTest.java b/java/wasm/src/test/java/org/jruby/parser/prism/WASMTest.java
index 1ed4ffbc83..e6a0cc5d36 100644
--- a/java/wasm/src/test/java/org/jruby/parser/prism/WASMTest.java
+++ b/java/wasm/src/test/java/org/jruby/parser/prism/WASMTest.java
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ public void testMBCIdentifier() {
     @Test
     public void testVersion() {
         try (Prism prism = new Prism()) {
-            assertEquals("1.9.0", prism.version());
+            assertEquals("2.0.0.rc1", prism.version());
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/javascript/package.json b/javascript/package.json
index bbdcef849f..359ad16d1e 100644
--- a/javascript/package.json
+++ b/javascript/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@ruby/prism",
-  "version": "1.9.0",
+  "version": "2.0.0-rc.1",
   "description": "Prism Ruby parser",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "src/index.js",
diff --git a/prism.gemspec b/prism.gemspec
index db4b311ca3..5223f75eb2 100644
--- a/prism.gemspec
+++ b/prism.gemspec
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.name = "prism"
-  spec.version = "1.9.0"
+  spec.version = "2.0.0.rc1"
   spec.authors = ["Shopify"]
   spec.email = ["ruby@shopify.com"]
 
diff --git a/rakelib/cargo.rake b/rakelib/cargo.rake
index df2be8dfaf..b22a2dde56 100644
--- a/rakelib/cargo.rake
+++ b/rakelib/cargo.rake
@@ -1,4 +1,17 @@
 namespace :cargo do
+  module GemspecVersion
+    def self.version(gemspec)
+      version = gemspec.version
+
+      if version.prerelease?
+        major, minor, patch, rc, prerelease = version.segments
+        "#{major}.#{minor}.#{patch}-#{rc}.#{prerelease}"
+      else
+        version.to_s
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   CRATES = ["ruby-prism-sys", "ruby-prism"]
 
   desc "Build and test the Rust packages"
@@ -7,9 +20,10 @@ namespace :cargo do
     require "yaml"
 
     gemspec = Gem::Specification.load("prism.gemspec")
+    version = GemspecVersion.version(gemspec)
 
     prism_sys_dir = Pathname(File.expand_path(File.join(__dir__, "../rust", "ruby-prism-sys")))
-    prism_sys_vendor_dir = prism_sys_dir.join("vendor/prism-#{gemspec.version}")
+    prism_sys_vendor_dir = prism_sys_dir.join("vendor/prism-#{version}")
 
     rm_rf(prism_sys_dir.join("vendor"))
     mkdir_p(prism_sys_vendor_dir)
@@ -17,7 +31,7 @@ namespace :cargo do
     cp_r("./src", prism_sys_vendor_dir.join("src"))
 
     prism_dir = Pathname(File.expand_path(File.join(__dir__, "../rust", "ruby-prism")))
-    prism_vendor_dir = prism_dir.join("vendor/prism-#{gemspec.version}")
+    prism_vendor_dir = prism_dir.join("vendor/prism-#{version}")
 
     rm_rf(prism_dir.join("vendor"))
     mkdir_p(prism_vendor_dir)
@@ -32,8 +46,8 @@ namespace :cargo do
       cargo_toml_path = Pathname.new("rust/#{crate}/Cargo.toml")
       old_cargo_toml = cargo_toml_path.read
       new_cargo_toml = old_cargo_toml
-        .gsub(/^version = ".*"/, %(version = "#{gemspec.version}"))
-        .gsub(/^ruby-prism-sys = { version = ".*",/, %(ruby-prism-sys = { version = "#{gemspec.version}",))
+        .gsub(/^version = ".*"/, %(version = "#{version}"))
+        .gsub(/^ruby-prism-sys = { version = ".*",/, %(ruby-prism-sys = { version = "#{version}",))
 
       File.write(cargo_toml_path, new_cargo_toml)
     end
@@ -42,6 +56,7 @@ namespace :cargo do
   desc "Regenerate the pregenerated bindings for ruby-prism-sys"
   task bindings: [:build] do
     gemspec = Gem::Specification.load("prism.gemspec")
+    version = GemspecVersion.version(gemspec)
 
     generated_path = File.expand_path("../rust/target/pregenerated-bindings.rs", __dir__)
     mkdir_p(File.dirname(generated_path))
@@ -56,7 +71,7 @@ namespace :cargo do
 
     header = <<~HEADER
       /* Generated by `bundle exec rake cargo:bindings`. Do not edit by hand.
-       * prism #{gemspec.version}, bindgen #{bindgen_version}, layout_tests(false)
+       * prism #{version}, bindgen #{bindgen_version}, layout_tests(false)
        * so the file stays portable across pointer widths.
        */
     HEADER
diff --git a/rust/Cargo.lock b/rust/Cargo.lock
index 3d0daac31e..55cbc4ac43 100644
--- a/rust/Cargo.lock
+++ b/rust/Cargo.lock
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ checksum = "d6f6ff9a378485b298a5286656da665ba74413d36db0979633275d2e708145d4"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "ruby-prism"
-version = "1.9.0"
+version = "2.0.0-rc.1"
 dependencies = [
  "ruby-prism-sys",
  "serde",
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "ruby-prism-sys"
-version = "1.9.0"
+version = "2.0.0-rc.1"
 dependencies = [
  "bindgen",
  "cc",
diff --git a/rust/ruby-prism-sys/Cargo.toml b/rust/ruby-prism-sys/Cargo.toml
index 8070de3682..f3856f9a68 100644
--- a/rust/ruby-prism-sys/Cargo.toml
+++ b/rust/ruby-prism-sys/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "ruby-prism-sys"
-version = "1.9.0"
+version = "2.0.0-rc.1"
 edition = "2021"
 license = "MIT"
 repository = "https://github.com/ruby/prism"
diff --git a/rust/ruby-prism-sys/src/bindings.rs b/rust/ruby-prism-sys/src/bindings.rs
index 95426a8404..d5085d457e 100644
--- a/rust/ruby-prism-sys/src/bindings.rs
+++ b/rust/ruby-prism-sys/src/bindings.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /* Generated by `bundle exec rake cargo:bindings`. Do not edit by hand.
- * prism 1.9.0, bindgen 0.73.2, layout_tests(false)
+ * prism 2.0.0-rc.1, bindgen 0.73.2, layout_tests(false)
  * so the file stays portable across pointer widths.
  */
 /* automatically generated by rust-bindgen 0.73.2 */
diff --git a/rust/ruby-prism-sys/tests/utils_tests.rs b/rust/ruby-prism-sys/tests/utils_tests.rs
index c619765c63..3492345add 100644
--- a/rust/ruby-prism-sys/tests/utils_tests.rs
+++ b/rust/ruby-prism-sys/tests/utils_tests.rs
@@ -9,5 +9,5 @@ fn version_test() {
         CStr::from_ptr(version)
     };
 
-    assert_eq!(&cstring.to_string_lossy(), "1.9.0");
+    assert_eq!(&cstring.to_string_lossy(), "2.0.0.rc1");
 }
diff --git a/rust/ruby-prism/Cargo.toml b/rust/ruby-prism/Cargo.toml
index 302780399c..efa945e75e 100644
--- a/rust/ruby-prism/Cargo.toml
+++ b/rust/ruby-prism/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "ruby-prism"
-version = "1.9.0"
+version = "2.0.0-rc.1"
 edition = "2021"
 license = "MIT"
 repository = "https://github.com/ruby/prism"
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1.0"
 
 [dependencies]
-ruby-prism-sys = { version = "1.9.0", path = "../ruby-prism-sys" }
+ruby-prism-sys = { version = "2.0.0-rc.1", path = "../ruby-prism-sys" }
 
 [features]
 default = ["vendored"]
diff --git a/templates/java/api/src/main/java-templates/org/ruby_lang/prism/Loader.java.erb b/templates/java/api/src/main/java-templates/org/ruby_lang/prism/Loader.java.erb
index f1785e5d30..ec7e56b70a 100644
--- a/templates/java/api/src/main/java-templates/org/ruby_lang/prism/Loader.java.erb
+++ b/templates/java/api/src/main/java-templates/org/ruby_lang/prism/Loader.java.erb
@@ -81,8 +81,8 @@ public class Loader {
         expect((byte) 'S', "incorrect prism header");
         expect((byte) 'M', "incorrect prism header");
 
-        expect((byte) 1, "prism major version does not match");
-        expect((byte) 9, "prism minor version does not match");
+        expect((byte) 2, "prism major version does not match");
+        expect((byte) 0, "prism minor version does not match");
         expect((byte) 0, "prism patch version does not match");
 
         expect((byte) 1, "Loader.java requires no location fields in the serialized output");
diff --git a/templates/javascript/src/deserialize.js.erb b/templates/javascript/src/deserialize.js.erb
index e00e0f26a9..9c02fd0e5c 100644
--- a/templates/javascript/src/deserialize.js.erb
+++ b/templates/javascript/src/deserialize.js.erb
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ import { getDecoder } from "./decoding.js";
 import { Location } from "./location.js";
 import { Source } from "./source.js";
 
-const MAJOR_VERSION = 1;
-const MINOR_VERSION = 9;
+const MAJOR_VERSION = 2;
+const MINOR_VERSION = 0;
 const PATCH_VERSION = 0;
 
 /* The DataView getFloat64 function takes an optional second argument that
diff --git a/templates/lib/prism/serialize.rb.erb b/templates/lib/prism/serialize.rb.erb
index d6e92ab5e7..87fdd10366 100644
--- a/templates/lib/prism/serialize.rb.erb
+++ b/templates/lib/prism/serialize.rb.erb
@@ -9,11 +9,11 @@ module Prism
   module Serialize # :nodoc:
     # The major version of prism that we are expecting to find in the serialized
     # strings.
-    MAJOR_VERSION = 1
+    MAJOR_VERSION = 2
 
     # The minor version of prism that we are expecting to find in the serialized
     # strings.
-    MINOR_VERSION = 9
+    MINOR_VERSION = 0
 
     # The patch version of prism that we are expecting to find in the serialized
     # strings.
diff --git a/test/prism/ractor_test.rb b/test/prism/ractor_test.rb
index 0e008ffb08..fa8bef0f8d 100644
--- a/test/prism/ractor_test.rb
+++ b/test/prism/ractor_test.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 module Prism
   class RactorTest < TestCase
     def test_version
-      assert_match(/\A\d+\.\d+\.\d+\z/, with_ractor { Prism::VERSION })
+      assert_match(/\A\d+\.\d+\.\d+(\.rc\d+)?\z/, with_ractor { Prism::VERSION })
     end
 
     def test_parse_file