diff --git a/cmd/kops/BUILD.bazel b/cmd/kops/BUILD.bazel
index 0c3a4536c6..712b40a973 100644
--- a/cmd/kops/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/cmd/kops/BUILD.bazel
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ go_binary(
     library = ":go_default_library",
     visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
     x_defs = {
-        "k8s.io/kops.Version": "1.8.0-alpha.1",  # keep
+        "k8s.io/kops.Version": "1.8.0-beta.1",  # keep
         "k8s.io/kops.GitVersion": "{BUILD_SCM_REVISION}",  # keep
     },
 )