diff --git a/ANNOUNCE b/ANNOUNCE
index f160172fb..2b9f519c9 100644
--- a/ANNOUNCE
+++ b/ANNOUNCE
@@ -1,62 +1,33 @@
 
-Libpng 1.4.4 - September 23, 2010
+Libpng 1.4.5beta01 - September 24, 2010
 
-This is a public release of libpng, intended for use in production codes.
+This is not intended to be a public release.  It will be replaced
+within a few weeks by a public version or by another test version.
 
 Files available for download:
 
 Source files with LF line endings (for Unix/Linux) and with a
 "configure" script
 
-   libpng-1.4.4.tar.xz (LZMA-compressed, recommended)
-   libpng-1.4.4.tar.gz
-   libpng-1.4.4.tar.bz2
+   1.4.5beta01.tar.xz (LZMA-compressed, recommended)
+   1.4.5beta01.tar.gz
+   1.4.5beta01.tar.bz2
 
 Source files with CRLF line endings (for Windows), without the
 "configure" script
 
-   lpng144.zip
-   lpng144.7z
+   lp145b01.zip
+   lp145b01.7z
 
 Other information:
 
-   libpng-1.4.4-README.txt
-   libpng-1.4.4-LICENSE.txt
+   1.4.5beta01-README.txt
+   1.4.5beta01-LICENSE.txt
 
-Changes since the last public release (1.4.3):
-  Removed extraneous new_push_process_row.c file.
-  Revised the "SEE ALSO" style of libpng.3, libpngpf.3, and png.5
-  Removed some newly-added TAB characters from pngpread.c.
-  Fixed some indentation in pngpread.c and pngrutil.c
-  Changed "extern PNG_EXPORT" to "PNG_EXPORT" in png.h (Jan Nijtmans)
-  Changed "extern" to "PNG_EXTERN" in pngpriv.h (except for the 'extern "C" {')
-  Put "#ifndef PNG_EXTERN, #endif" around "#define PNG_EXTERN" in pngpriv.h
-  Added -DNO_PNG_SNPRINTF to CFLAGS in scripts/makefile.dj2
-  Moved the definition of png_snprintf() outside of the enclosing
-    #ifdef blocks in pngconf.h
-  Made a special case "#define PNGAPI" in pngconf.h for WATCOM.
-  Removed reference to cbuilder5/* from Makefile.in and Makefile.am
-  Updated the read macros and functions from 1.5.0beta38.
-  Updated projects/visualc71 so it can find scripts/pnglibconf.h
-  Removed unused png_mem_* defines from pngconf.h.
-  Correct use of _WINDOWS_ in pngconf.h
-  Don't try to use version-script with cygwin/mingw.
-  Revised contrib/gregbook to work under cygwin/mingw.
-  Updated prebuilt aclocal.m4 and ltmain.sh
-  Add .dll.a to the list of extensions to be symlinked by Makefile.am (Yaakov)
-  Updated CMakelists.txt to use CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR variable; useful for
-    installing libpng in /usr/lib64 (Funda Wang).
-  Revised CMakeLists.txt to put the man pages in share/man/man* not man/man*
-  Revised CMakeLists.txt to make symlinks instead of copies when installing.
-  Moved "#include pngusr.h" ahead of PNG_USER_PRIVATEBUILD test in pngconf.h
-  Eliminated a deprecated reference to png_ptr->io_ptr in pngtest.c
-  Eliminated new unnecessary #if tests regarding the sCAL chunk from pngrutil.c
-  Updated the xcode project to work with libpng-1.4.x and added iOS targets
-    for simulator and device (Philippe Hausler).
-  Revised autogen.sh to recognize and use $AUTOCONF, $AUTOMAKE, $AUTOHEADER,
-    $AUTOPOINT, $ACLOCAL and $LIBTOOLIZE
-  Rebuilt configure scripts with automake-1.11.1 instead of automake-1.11.
-  Removed unused mkinstalldirs file.
+Changes since the last public release (1.4.4):
+
+version 1.4.5beta01 [September 24, 2010]
+  Fixed configure.ac bug introduced in version 1.4.4rc05.
 
 Send comments/corrections/commendations to glennrp at users.sourceforge.net
 or to png-mng-implement at lists.sf.net (subscription required; visit
diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 271ca1aec..04e2314c0 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -2680,6 +2680,9 @@ version 1.4.4rc05 [September 20, 2010]
 version 1.4.4 [September 23, 2010]
   No changes.
 
+version 1.4.5beta01 [September 24, 2010]
+  Fixed configure.ac bug introduced in version 1.4.4rc05.
+
 Send comments/corrections/commendations to glennrp at users.sourceforge.net
 or to png-mng-implement at lists.sf.net (subscription required; visit
 https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/png-mng-implement).
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 510e4bc3b..94e74b39a 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -16,17 +16,17 @@ dnl should not be necessary to regenerate configure if the time
 dnl stamps are correct
 AC_PREREQ(2.59)
 
+AC_INIT([libpng], [1.4.4], [png-mng-implement@lists.sourceforge.net])
+AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE
+dnl stop configure from automagically running automake
+AM_MAINTAINER_MODE
+
 dnl Version number stuff here:
 
 PNGLIB_VERSION=1.4.4
 PNGLIB_MAJOR=1
 PNGLIB_MINOR=4
-PNGLIB_RELEASE=4
-
-AC_INIT([libpng], [1.4.4], [png-mng-implement@lists.sourceforge.net])
-AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE
-dnl stop configure from automagically running automake
-AM_MAINTAINER_MODE
+PNGLIB_RELEASE=5
 
 dnl End of version number stuff