diff --git a/ruma-api/Cargo.toml b/ruma-api/Cargo.toml
index 29b7c425..943b0ec0 100644
--- a/ruma-api/Cargo.toml
+++ b/ruma-api/Cargo.toml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ edition = "2018"
 http = "0.2.1"
 percent-encoding = "2.1.0"
 ruma-api-macros = { version = "=0.16.1", path = "../ruma-api-macros" }
-ruma-identifiers = { version = "0.16.2", path = "../ruma-identifiers" }
+ruma-identifiers = { version = "=0.17.0-pre.1", path = "../ruma-identifiers" }
 ruma-serde = { version = "0.2.0", path = "../ruma-serde" }
 serde = { version = "1.0.113", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1.0.55"
diff --git a/ruma-appservice-api/Cargo.toml b/ruma-appservice-api/Cargo.toml
index 4901668e..d92118f0 100644
--- a/ruma-appservice-api/Cargo.toml
+++ b/ruma-appservice-api/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,6 +14,6 @@ edition = "2018"
 [dependencies]
 ruma-api = { version = "0.16.1", path = "../ruma-api" }
 ruma-events = { version = "0.21.3", path = "../ruma-events" }
-ruma-identifiers = { version = "0.16.2", path = "../ruma-identifiers" }
+ruma-identifiers = { version = "=0.17.0-pre.1", path = "../ruma-identifiers" }
 serde = { version = "1.0.113", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1.0.55"
diff --git a/ruma-client-api/Cargo.toml b/ruma-client-api/Cargo.toml
index 780d413e..53c8ab4d 100644
--- a/ruma-client-api/Cargo.toml
+++ b/ruma-client-api/Cargo.toml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ js_int = { version = "0.1.7", features = ["serde"] }
 ruma-api = { version = "0.16.1", path = "../ruma-api" }
 ruma-common = { version = "0.1.3", path = "../ruma-common" }
 ruma-events = { version = "0.21.3", path = "../ruma-events" }
-ruma-identifiers = { version = "0.16.2", path = "../ruma-identifiers" }
+ruma-identifiers = { version = "=0.17.0-pre.1", path = "../ruma-identifiers" }
 ruma-serde = { version = "0.2.2", path = "../ruma-serde" }
 serde = { version = "1.0.113", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1.0.55"
diff --git a/ruma-events-macros/Cargo.toml b/ruma-events-macros/Cargo.toml
index 2ed50284..522fb3b3 100644
--- a/ruma-events-macros/Cargo.toml
+++ b/ruma-events-macros/Cargo.toml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ matches = "0.1.8"
 proc-macro = true
 
 [dev-dependencies]
-ruma-identifiers = { version = "0.16.1", path = "../ruma-identifiers" }
+ruma-identifiers = { version = "=0.17.0-pre.1", path = "../ruma-identifiers" }
 serde_json = "1.0.55"
 js_int = { version = "0.1.7", features = ["serde"] }
 serde = { version = "1.0.113", features = ["derive"] }
diff --git a/ruma-events/Cargo.toml b/ruma-events/Cargo.toml
index 6372cb1e..02538028 100644
--- a/ruma-events/Cargo.toml
+++ b/ruma-events/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ criterion = { version = "0.3.2", optional = true }
 js_int = { version = "0.1.7", features = ["serde"] }
 ruma-common = { version = "0.1.3", path = "../ruma-common" }
 ruma-events-macros = { version = "=0.21.3", path = "../ruma-events-macros" }
-ruma-identifiers = { version = "0.16.2", path = "../ruma-identifiers" }
+ruma-identifiers = { version = "=0.17.0-pre.1", path = "../ruma-identifiers" }
 ruma-serde = { version = "0.2.2", path = "../ruma-serde" }
 serde = { version = "1.0.113", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = { version = "1.0.55", features = ["raw_value"] }
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ strum = { version = "0.18.0", features = ["derive"] }
 [dev-dependencies]
 maplit = "1.0.2"
 matches = "0.1.8"
-ruma-identifiers = { version = "0.16.2", path = "../ruma-identifiers", features = ["rand"] }
+ruma-identifiers = { version = "=0.17.0-pre.1", path = "../ruma-identifiers", features = ["rand"] }
 trybuild = "1.0.30"
 
 [[bench]]
diff --git a/ruma-federation-api/Cargo.toml b/ruma-federation-api/Cargo.toml
index 8365e733..c5a47229 100644
--- a/ruma-federation-api/Cargo.toml
+++ b/ruma-federation-api/Cargo.toml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ js_int = "0.1.7"
 matches = "0.1.8"
 ruma-api = { version = "0.16.1", path = "../ruma-api" }
 ruma-events = { version = "0.21.3", path = "../ruma-events" }
-ruma-identifiers = { version = "0.16.2", path = "../ruma-identifiers" }
+ruma-identifiers = { version = "=0.17.0-pre.1", path = "../ruma-identifiers" }
 ruma-serde = { version = "0.2.2", path = "../ruma-serde" }
 serde = { version = "1.0.113", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1.0.55"
diff --git a/ruma-identifiers/CHANGELOG.md b/ruma-identifiers/CHANGELOG.md
index 85890ffb..fe1579e7 100644
--- a/ruma-identifiers/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/ruma-identifiers/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # [unreleased]
 
+# 0.17.0
+
 Breaking changes:
 
 * Remove `RoomVersionId::custom`. It could be used to create invalid room versions (empty or
@@ -19,7 +21,7 @@ Breaking changes:
     ```
     to
     ```rust
-    fn new(ServerNameRef<'_>) -> Self
+    fn new(&ServerName) -> Self
     ```
 
   * Change signature of `server_name()` for `EventId`, `RoomAliasId`, `RoomId`, `RoomIdOrAliasId`, `UserId` from
@@ -28,18 +30,21 @@ Breaking changes:
     ```
     to
     ```rust
-    fn server_name() -> ServerNameRef<'_>
+    fn server_name() -> &ServerName
     ```
+* Change `DeviceId` from being an alias for `String` to being an alias for `str`
+  * This means any string slice or string literal is a valid `&DeviceId` now
+  * But to store one, you need to box it: `Box<DeviceId>`
 
 Deprecations:
 
-* Mark `server_name::is_valid_server_name` as deprecated in favor of `ServerName::try_from()`
-
+* Mark `server_name::is_valid_server_name` as deprecated in favor of `<&ServerName>::try_from()`
 
 Improvements:
 
 * Add `DeviceKeyId`, `DeviceKeyAlgorithm`, `ServerKeyId`, and `ServerKeyAlgorithm`
-* Add `ServerName` and `ServerNameRef` types
+* Add a `ServerName` type
+  * This is a dynamically-sized type, if you need to store it use `Box<ServerName>`
 
 # 0.16.2
 
diff --git a/ruma-identifiers/Cargo.toml b/ruma-identifiers/Cargo.toml
index e1480340..74a4f047 100644
--- a/ruma-identifiers/Cargo.toml
+++ b/ruma-identifiers/Cargo.toml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ license = "MIT"
 name = "ruma-identifiers"
 readme = "README.md"
 repository = "https://github.com/ruma/ruma-identifiers"
-version = "0.16.2"
+version = "0.17.0-pre.1"
 edition = "2018"
 
 [package.metadata.docs.rs]
diff --git a/ruma/Cargo.toml b/ruma/Cargo.toml
index f86208ca..edec030d 100644
--- a/ruma/Cargo.toml
+++ b/ruma/Cargo.toml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ federation-api = ["ruma-api", "ruma-federation-api", "ruma-signatures"]
 
 [dependencies]
 ruma-common = { version = "0.1.3", path = "../ruma-common" }
-ruma-identifiers = { version = "0.16.2", path = "../ruma-identifiers", features = ["serde"] }
+ruma-identifiers = { version = "=0.17.0-pre.1", path = "../ruma-identifiers", features = ["serde"] }
 
 ruma-events = { version = "0.21.3", path = "../ruma-events", optional = true }
 ruma-signatures = { version = "0.6.0-dev.1", path = "../ruma-signatures", optional = true }