diff --git a/tools/appliance/build.sh b/tools/appliance/build.sh
index 8bf78b18ab1..4ff99b845a5 100755
--- a/tools/appliance/build.sh
+++ b/tools/appliance/build.sh
@@ -250,8 +250,10 @@ function create_definition() {
   if [ "${appliance}" != "${appliance_build_name}" ]; then
     cp -r "definitions/${appliance}" "definitions/${appliance_build_name}"
     set +e
+    if [ ! -z "${version}" ]; then
     sed ${sed_regex_option} -i -e "s/^CLOUDSTACK_RELEASE=.+/CLOUDSTACK_RELEASE=${version}/" \
         "definitions/${appliance_build_name}/configure_systemvm_services.sh"
+    fi
     if [ ! -z "${ssh_key}" ]; then
       # ssh key lines can contain /
       sed ${sed_regex_option} -i -e "s|^key=.+|key=\"${ssh_key}\"|" \
diff --git a/tools/appliance/definitions/systemvmtemplate/configure_systemvm_services.sh b/tools/appliance/definitions/systemvmtemplate/configure_systemvm_services.sh
index c076bb50480..013a8f69e0c 100644
--- a/tools/appliance/definitions/systemvmtemplate/configure_systemvm_services.sh
+++ b/tools/appliance/definitions/systemvmtemplate/configure_systemvm_services.sh
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 set -e
 set -x
 
-CLOUDSTACK_RELEASE=4.4.0
+CLOUDSTACK_RELEASE=4.5.0
 
 function configure_apache2() {
    # Enable ssl, rewrite and auth