diff --git a/packaging/host/debian/dotnet-sharedhost-debian_config.json b/packaging/host/debian/dotnet-sharedhost-debian_config.json
index 1afa060b9..9554560b0 100644
--- a/packaging/host/debian/dotnet-sharedhost-debian_config.json
+++ b/packaging/host/debian/dotnet-sharedhost-debian_config.json
@@ -28,11 +28,6 @@
         "full_text": "Copyright (c) 2015 Microsoft\nPermission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy\nof this software and associated documentation files (the \"Software\"), to deal\nin the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights\nto use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell\ncopies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is\nfurnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:\nThe above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all\ncopies or substantial portions of the Software.\nTHE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED \"AS IS\", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR\nIMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,\nFITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE\nAUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER\nLIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,\nOUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE\nSOFTWARE."
     },
 
-    "debian_dependencies":{
-        "libssl-dev" : {},
-        "libcurl3" : {}
-    },
-    
     "symlinks": {
         "dotnet" : "/usr/bin/dotnet"
     }
diff --git a/tools/DebianPackageTool/scripts/config_template_generator.py b/tools/DebianPackageTool/scripts/config_template_generator.py
index f4a03df2f..ad6a303c8 100755
--- a/tools/DebianPackageTool/scripts/config_template_generator.py
+++ b/tools/DebianPackageTool/scripts/config_template_generator.py
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ def generate_changelog(config_data, template_dir, package_version=None, package_
     
     # Allow for Version Override
     config_package_version = release_data["package_version"]
-    package_version = config_package_version
+    package_version = package_version or config_package_version
 
     template_dict = dict(\
         PACKAGE_VERSION=package_version,