diff --git a/smartmontools/ChangeLog b/smartmontools/ChangeLog
index dc134bc616cf7e9fbefc5b8a72bdf6587fbeec05..7f6ea2fcbfccb2e0ee5ec4f5b5528409e9029955 100644
--- a/smartmontools/ChangeLog
+++ b/smartmontools/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,17 @@
 $Id$
 
+2022-02-28  Douglas Gilbert  <dgilbert@interlog.com>
+
+	utility.cpp: the previous patch bumped the version number
+	to 7.4 which probably won't be released for another
+	10 to 12 months. Alter the product strings to add either
+	"pre-release" or just "pre-" in front of release to help
+	stop users thinking they are using (released) version 7.4
+	until it actually is released.
+	N.B. When the release actually is performed, this patch
+	should be reversed (and then put back in after the release,
+	for the next cycle). 
+
 2022-02-28  Christian Franke  <franke@computer.org>
 
 	smartmontools 7.3
diff --git a/smartmontools/utility.cpp b/smartmontools/utility.cpp
index 64fd8012c5cfcb7d6e5cbbfa0565d488e9611b38..791d8287f454a1f01b6490c12c3d2eadf1884ade 100644
--- a/smartmontools/utility.cpp
+++ b/smartmontools/utility.cpp
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ const char * packet_types[] = {
 std::string format_version_info(const char * prog_name, bool full /*= false*/)
 {
   std::string info = strprintf(
-    "%s " PACKAGE_VERSION " "
+    "%s pre-release " PACKAGE_VERSION " "
 #ifdef SMARTMONTOOLS_SVN_REV
       SMARTMONTOOLS_SVN_DATE " r" SMARTMONTOOLS_SVN_REV
 #else
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ std::string format_version_info(const char * prog_name, bool full /*= false*/)
     "version 2, or (at your option) any later version.\n"
     "See https://www.gnu.org for further details.\n"
     "\n"
-    "smartmontools release " PACKAGE_VERSION
+    "smartmontools pre-release " PACKAGE_VERSION
       " dated " SMARTMONTOOLS_RELEASE_DATE " at " SMARTMONTOOLS_RELEASE_TIME "\n"
 #ifdef SMARTMONTOOLS_SVN_REV
     "smartmontools SVN rev " SMARTMONTOOLS_SVN_REV