diff --git a/release-please-config.json b/release-please-config.json
index c7864c8df..2cf1d3b2c 100644
--- a/release-please-config.json
+++ b/release-please-config.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "release-type": "java-yoshi",
-  "prerelease-type": "rc1",
+  "prerelease-type": "alpha-rc1",
   "versioning": "prerelease",
   "separate-pull-requests": false,
   "include-component-in-tag": false,