diff --git a/closed/get_j9_source.sh b/closed/get_j9_source.sh
index 9a6cc0be5a8..ba50f01b3fc 100644
--- a/closed/get_j9_source.sh
+++ b/closed/get_j9_source.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
 # ===========================================================================
-# (c) Copyright IBM Corp. 2017, 2023 All Rights Reserved
+# (c) Copyright IBM Corp. 2017, 2024 All Rights Reserved
 # ===========================================================================
 #
 # This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -55,14 +55,8 @@ declare -A commands
 declare -A shas
 declare -A references
 
-currentbranch=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
-if [[ "$currentbranch" =~ v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?-release ]] ; then
-	default_branches[openj9]=$currentbranch
-	default_branches[omr]=$currentbranch
-else
-	default_branches[openj9]=master
-	default_branches[omr]=openj9
-fi
+default_branches[openj9]=v0.43.0-release
+default_branches[omr]=v0.43.0-release
 
 pflag="false"
 base_git_url=https://github.com
diff --git a/jdk/make/closed/autoconf/custom-spec.gmk.in b/jdk/make/closed/autoconf/custom-spec.gmk.in
index 9d5d7c1ccab..19ceb1adde1 100644
--- a/jdk/make/closed/autoconf/custom-spec.gmk.in
+++ b/jdk/make/closed/autoconf/custom-spec.gmk.in
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # ===========================================================================
-# (c) Copyright IBM Corp. 2017, 2023 All Rights Reserved
+# (c) Copyright IBM Corp. 2017, 2024 All Rights Reserved
 # ===========================================================================
 # This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 # under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ USERNAME                := @USERNAME@
 include $(SRC_ROOT)/closed/openjdk-tag.gmk
 
 JDK_FIX_VERSION         := @JDK_FIX_VERSION@
-J9JDK_EXT_VERSION       := $(JDK_MINOR_VERSION).$(JDK_MICRO_VERSION).$(JDK_UPDATE_VERSION).$(JDK_FIX_VERSION)-ea
+J9JDK_EXT_VERSION       := $(JDK_MINOR_VERSION).$(JDK_MICRO_VERSION).$(JDK_UPDATE_VERSION).$(JDK_FIX_VERSION)
 J9JDK_EXT_NAME          := Extensions for OpenJDK for Eclipse OpenJ9
 
 # required by CMake