diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index b4572cc..4c618dd 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -11,6 +11,15 @@ file by `towncrier <https://towncrier.readthedocs.io/>`_ when a release is prepa
 
 .. towncrier release notes start
 
+5.4.0b1 (2026-09-25)
+====================
+
+Maintenance
+-----------
+
+- Bumped the google protobuf version to 6.33 and dropped support for Python < 3.10. Closes #3691 (`#64 <https://github.com/directelectron/deapi/pull/64>`_)
+
+
 5.3.0 (2026-09-24)
 ==================
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 6075170..c9fc756 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "pywin32; platform_system == 'Windows'",
 ]
 description = "API for DE Server"
-version = "5.3.0"
+version = "5.4.0b1"
 keywords = [
     "EELS",
     "STEM",
diff --git a/upcoming_changes/64.maintenance.rst b/upcoming_changes/64.maintenance.rst
deleted file mode 100644
index 775f687..0000000
--- a/upcoming_changes/64.maintenance.rst
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bumped the google protobuf version to 6.33 and dropped support for Python < 3.10. Closes #3691