--- Python-2.4b1/Lib/distutils/command/bdist_rpm.py	2009-03-10 20:49:57.000000000 -0500
+++ Python-2.4b1/Lib/distutils/command/bdist_rpm.py	2009-03-10 21:38:09.000000000 -0500
@@ -392,7 +392,15 @@
                pass
         else:
                version = splits[0]
-               release = "0." + release + "." + firstnonalnumchar[0] + splits[1]
+               releasetext =  firstnonalnumchar[0] + splits[1]
+               if "dev" in releasetext:
+                       release = "0" # dev packages must NEVER upgrade alpha or beta packages
+                       releasenonnums = "".join(re.findall("[^0-9]",releasetext))
+                       releasenums = re.sub("[^0-9]","",releasetext)
+                       releasetext = releasenums + releasenonnums
+                       releasetext = releasetext.replace("-","")
+                       if releasetext == "dev": releasetext = "0dev"
+               release = "0." + release + "." + releasetext
         spec_file = [
             '%define name ' + self.distribution.get_name(),
             '%define version ' + self.distribution.get_version().replace('-','_'),