diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/etcd/init.sls b/cluster/saltbase/salt/etcd/init.sls
index 6fdea7df6a2..cd09961a842 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/etcd/init.sls
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/etcd/init.sls
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ etcd-tar:
     - source_hash: {{ etcd_tar_hash }}
     - archive_format: tar
     - if_missing: /usr/local/src/etcd-{{ etcd_version }}-linux-amd64
-    - tar_options: z
+    - tar_options: xz
   file.directory:
     - name: /usr/local/src/etcd-{{ etcd_version }}-linux-amd64
     - user: root
diff --git a/pkg/version/base.go b/pkg/version/base.go
index 34e142f3d44..3ecc40bc504 100644
--- a/pkg/version/base.go
+++ b/pkg/version/base.go
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@ package version
 var (
 	// TODO: Deprecate gitMajor and gitMinor, use only gitVersion instead.
 	gitMajor     string = "0"              // major version, always numeric
-	gitMinor     string = "4.3+"           // minor version, numeric possibly followed by "+"
-	gitVersion   string = "v0.4.3-dev"     // version from git, output of $(git describe)
+	gitMinor     string = "4.4+"           // minor version, numeric possibly followed by "+"
+	gitVersion   string = "v0.4.4-dev"     // version from git, output of $(git describe)
 	gitCommit    string = ""               // sha1 from git, output of $(git rev-parse HEAD)
 	gitTreeState string = "not a git tree" // state of git tree, either "clean" or "dirty"
 )