diff --git a/docs/release_log.rst b/docs/release_log.rst
index 97dbf742..08b0b37d 100644
--- a/docs/release_log.rst
+++ b/docs/release_log.rst
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 Release Log
 ===========
+* 2.5.0 - Unreleased
+
+    nameparser 2.5 is under development.
+
 * 2.4.2 - October 13, 2026
 
     nameparser 2.4.2 fixes two readings: a name typed with decomposed accents or hangul, and the Hausa given name Shehu.
diff --git a/nameparser/_version.py b/nameparser/_version.py
index bf79b58e..1f9ef660 100644
--- a/nameparser/_version.py
+++ b/nameparser/_version.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 #: cannot carry the dev marker, so `VERSION >= (2, 5, 0)` is already
 #: true here while 2.5.0 is unreleased. Compare `__version__` instead
 #: where that distinction matters.
-VERSION = (2, 4, 2)
+VERSION = (2, 5, 0)
 #: PEP 440 pre-release/dev segment appended to the numeric version, or
 #: "" for a final release. Joined WITHOUT a dot ("2.0.0rc1", not
 #: "2.0.0.rc1"); setuptools reads __version__ as the package version.
@@ -15,5 +15,5 @@
 #: "dev" through the cycle, cleared at release. It normalizes to
 #: 2.5.0.dev0, which sorts above 2.4.0 and BELOW 2.5.0, so an install
 #: from master can never masquerade as the release it precedes.
-PRE_RELEASE = ""
+PRE_RELEASE = "dev"
 __version__ = ".".join(map(str, VERSION)) + PRE_RELEASE
diff --git a/tools/differential/compare.py b/tools/differential/compare.py
index 3b91558b..2ea04d7b 100644
--- a/tools/differential/compare.py
+++ b/tools/differential/compare.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 from typing import NamedTuple
 
 HERE = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
-DEFAULT_BASELINE = "2.4.1"
+DEFAULT_BASELINE = "2.4.2"
 REPO_ROOT = HERE.parents[1]