diff --git a/.appveyor.yml b/.appveyor.yml
index f3404faa68b9..1f3aaa03f0cd 100644
--- a/.appveyor.yml
+++ b/.appveyor.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-version: 2.3.2.{build}
+version: 3.0.0rc1.{build}
 
 image: Visual Studio 2015
 platform: x64
diff --git a/.ci/test_r_package.sh b/.ci/test_r_package.sh
index ac45de88500a..57aeb7016633 100755
--- a/.ci/test_r_package.sh
+++ b/.ci/test_r_package.sh
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ fi
 
 cd ${BUILD_DIRECTORY}
 
-PKG_TARBALL="lightgbm_${LGB_VER}.tar.gz"
+PKG_TARBALL="lightgbm_*.tar.gz"
 LOG_FILE_NAME="lightgbm.Rcheck/00check.log"
 if [[ $R_BUILD_TYPE == "cmake" ]]; then
     Rscript build_r.R --skip-install || exit -1
@@ -134,7 +134,6 @@ elif [[ $R_BUILD_TYPE == "cran" ]]; then
     # on Linux, we recreate configure in CI to test if
     # a change in a PR has changed configure.ac
     if [[ $OS_NAME == "linux" ]]; then
-        cp VERSION.txt R-package/src/VERSION.txt
         cd ${BUILD_DIRECTORY}/R-package
         autoconf \
             --output configure \
diff --git a/.ci/test_r_package_windows.ps1 b/.ci/test_r_package_windows.ps1
index ac379f05fdb1..63066bbcea85 100644
--- a/.ci/test_r_package_windows.ps1
+++ b/.ci/test_r_package_windows.ps1
@@ -82,7 +82,6 @@ if (($env:COMPILER -eq "MINGW") -and ($env:R_BUILD_TYPE -eq "cmake")) {
 cd $env:BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY
 tzutil /s "GMT Standard Time"
 [Void][System.IO.Directory]::CreateDirectory($env:R_LIB_PATH)
-$env:LGB_VER = Get-Content -Path VERSION.txt -TotalCount 1
 
 if ($env:R_BUILD_TYPE -eq "cmake") {
   if ($env:TOOLCHAIN -eq "MINGW") {
@@ -142,7 +141,7 @@ Write-Output "Building R package"
 # R CMD check is not used for MSVC builds
 if ($env:COMPILER -ne "MSVC") {
 
-  $PKG_FILE_NAME = "lightgbm_$env:LGB_VER.tar.gz"
+  $PKG_FILE_NAME = "lightgbm_*.tar.gz"
   $LOG_FILE_NAME = "lightgbm.Rcheck/00check.log"
 
   if ($env:R_BUILD_TYPE -eq "cmake") {
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index cd3f71ba8ce2..3b46079bfe7b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -137,7 +137,6 @@ jobs:
           export CONDA_ENV="test-env"
           export CONDA="$HOME/miniconda"
           export PATH="$CONDA/bin:${HOME}/.local/bin:$PATH"
-          export LGB_VER=$(head -n 1 VERSION.txt)
           export R_VERSION="${{ matrix.r_version }}"
           export R_BUILD_TYPE="${{ matrix.build_type }}"
           $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/.ci/setup.sh
diff --git a/R-package/DESCRIPTION b/R-package/DESCRIPTION
index 5a81389c33df..202fc0fb0627 100755
--- a/R-package/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/R-package/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 Package: lightgbm
 Type: Package
 Title: Light Gradient Boosting Machine
-Version: 2.3.2
-Date: 2019-11-26
+Version: 3.0.0-1
+Date: 2020-08-06
 Authors@R: c(
     person("Guolin", "Ke", email = "guolin.ke@microsoft.com", role = c("aut", "cre")),
     person("Damien", "Soukhavong", email = "damien.soukhavong@skema.edu", role = c("ctb")),
diff --git a/R-package/configure b/R-package/configure
index c8a7059bbcaf..8734bd0ef536 100755
--- a/R-package/configure
+++ b/R-package/configure
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #! /bin/sh
 # Guess values for system-dependent variables and create Makefiles.
-# Generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69 for lightgbm 2.3.2.
+# Generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69 for lightgbm 3.0.0-1.
 #
 #
 # Copyright (C) 1992-1996, 1998-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@@ -576,8 +576,8 @@ MAKEFLAGS=
 # Identity of this package.
 PACKAGE_NAME='lightgbm'
 PACKAGE_TARNAME='lightgbm'
-PACKAGE_VERSION='2.3.2'
-PACKAGE_STRING='lightgbm 2.3.2'
+PACKAGE_VERSION='3.0.0-1'
+PACKAGE_STRING='lightgbm 3.0.0-1'
 PACKAGE_BUGREPORT=''
 PACKAGE_URL=''
 
@@ -1182,7 +1182,7 @@ if test "$ac_init_help" = "long"; then
   # Omit some internal or obsolete options to make the list less imposing.
   # This message is too long to be a string in the A/UX 3.1 sh.
   cat <<_ACEOF
-\`configure' configures lightgbm 2.3.2 to adapt to many kinds of systems.
+\`configure' configures lightgbm 3.0.0-1 to adapt to many kinds of systems.
 
 Usage: $0 [OPTION]... [VAR=VALUE]...
 
@@ -1244,7 +1244,7 @@ fi
 
 if test -n "$ac_init_help"; then
   case $ac_init_help in
-     short | recursive ) echo "Configuration of lightgbm 2.3.2:";;
+     short | recursive ) echo "Configuration of lightgbm 3.0.0-1:";;
    esac
   cat <<\_ACEOF
 
@@ -1311,7 +1311,7 @@ fi
 test -n "$ac_init_help" && exit $ac_status
 if $ac_init_version; then
   cat <<\_ACEOF
-lightgbm configure 2.3.2
+lightgbm configure 3.0.0-1
 generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69
 
 Copyright (C) 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@@ -1328,7 +1328,7 @@ cat >config.log <<_ACEOF
 This file contains any messages produced by compilers while
 running configure, to aid debugging if configure makes a mistake.
 
-It was created by lightgbm $as_me 2.3.2, which was
+It was created by lightgbm $as_me 3.0.0-1, which was
 generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69.  Invocation command line was
 
   $ $0 $@
@@ -2377,7 +2377,7 @@ cat >>$CONFIG_STATUS <<\_ACEOF || ac_write_fail=1
 # report actual input values of CONFIG_FILES etc. instead of their
 # values after options handling.
 ac_log="
-This file was extended by lightgbm $as_me 2.3.2, which was
+This file was extended by lightgbm $as_me 3.0.0-1, which was
 generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69.  Invocation command line was
 
   CONFIG_FILES    = $CONFIG_FILES
@@ -2430,7 +2430,7 @@ _ACEOF
 cat >>$CONFIG_STATUS <<_ACEOF || ac_write_fail=1
 ac_cs_config="`$as_echo "$ac_configure_args" | sed 's/^ //; s/[\\""\`\$]/\\\\&/g'`"
 ac_cs_version="\\
-lightgbm config.status 2.3.2
+lightgbm config.status 3.0.0-1
 configured by $0, generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69,
   with options \\"\$ac_cs_config\\"
 
diff --git a/R-package/configure.ac b/R-package/configure.ac
index 4f0809801204..cafc4b50b177 100644
--- a/R-package/configure.ac
+++ b/R-package/configure.ac
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 #   * https://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/r-release/R-exts.html#Configure-and-cleanup
 
 AC_PREREQ(2.69)
-AC_INIT([lightgbm], [m4_esyscmd_s([cat src/VERSION.txt])], [], [lightgbm], [])
+AC_INIT([lightgbm], [3.0.0-1], [], [lightgbm], [])
 
 ###########################
 # find compiler and flags #
diff --git a/R-package/recreate-configure.sh b/R-package/recreate-configure.sh
index cac4facfacde..9263174a7dad 100755
--- a/R-package/recreate-configure.sh
+++ b/R-package/recreate-configure.sh
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ apt-get install \
     -y \
         autoconf=${AUTOCONF_VERSION}
 
-cp VERSION.txt R-package/src/
 cd R-package
 autoconf \
     --output configure \
diff --git a/VERSION.txt b/VERSION.txt
index f90b1afc082f..11d421a810fc 100644
--- a/VERSION.txt
+++ b/VERSION.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2.3.2
+3.0.0rc1
diff --git a/build-cran-package.sh b/build-cran-package.sh
index 1780b75889b4..777f7e6d9a8c 100755
--- a/build-cran-package.sh
+++ b/build-cran-package.sh
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ mkdir -p ${TEMP_R_DIR}
 cp -R R-package/* ${TEMP_R_DIR}
 cp -R include ${TEMP_R_DIR}/src/
 cp -R src/* ${TEMP_R_DIR}/src/
-cp VERSION.txt ${TEMP_R_DIR}/src/
 
 cd ${TEMP_R_DIR}