diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/NEWS.txt b/Lib/idlelib/NEWS.txt
index d9e0c50a12a..3b3d79af33c 100644
--- a/Lib/idlelib/NEWS.txt
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/NEWS.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+What's New in IDLE 2.6a1?
+=========================
+
+*Release date: XX-XXX-200X*
+
+- IDLE's version number takes a big jump to match the version number of
+  the Python release of which it's a part.
+
+
 What's New in IDLE 1.2c1?
 =========================
 
diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py b/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py
index 29686fdd7e9..f56b4d4404b 100644
--- a/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/idlever.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-IDLE_VERSION = "1.2c1"
+IDLE_VERSION = "2.6a0"