diff --git a/release-please-config.json b/release-please-config.json
index fffd8ff54..6f72631ba 100644
--- a/release-please-config.json
+++ b/release-please-config.json
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 {
   "release-type": "java-yoshi-mono-repo",
+  "prerelease-type": "rc1",
+  "versioning": "prerelease",
   "separate-pull-requests": false,
   "include-component-in-tag": false,
   "group-pull-request-title-pattern": "chore(${branch}): release ${version}",
@@ -18,4 +20,6 @@
     }
   },
   "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/googleapis/release-please/main/schemas/config.json"
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+,
+  "prerelease": true
+}