diff --git a/release_scripts/APIUpdate/src/main/java/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/apiupdate/ManifestLoader.java b/release_scripts/APIUpdate/src/main/java/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/apiupdate/ManifestLoader.java
index 2b97b3328e11a27165f6a7e5b5a0960ab45bdc93..ddc9b047415f692f0f459fe7b5d915379acde161 100644
--- a/release_scripts/APIUpdate/src/main/java/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/apiupdate/ManifestLoader.java
+++ b/release_scripts/APIUpdate/src/main/java/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/apiupdate/ManifestLoader.java
@@ -19,13 +19,18 @@
  * @author gregd
  */
 public class ManifestLoader {
+
     private static final String JAR_MANIFEST_REL_PATH = "META-INF/MANIFEST.MF";
 
     public static Attributes loadInputStream(InputStream is) throws IOException {
-        Manifest manifest = new Manifest(is);
+        Manifest manifest = loadManifest(is);
         return manifest.getMainAttributes();
     }
 
+    public static Manifest loadManifest(InputStream is) throws IOException {
+        return new Manifest(is);
+    }
+
     public static Attributes loadFromJar(File jarFile) throws IOException {
         ZipFile zipFile = new ZipFile(jarFile);
 
diff --git a/release_scripts/APIUpdate/src/main/java/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/apiupdate/ModuleUpdates.java b/release_scripts/APIUpdate/src/main/java/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/apiupdate/ModuleUpdates.java
index d990167c96f2745a750397190e5d321bce686560..dcd69abba70316d236099315b8cd7a4886aa3237 100644
--- a/release_scripts/APIUpdate/src/main/java/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/apiupdate/ModuleUpdates.java
+++ b/release_scripts/APIUpdate/src/main/java/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/apiupdate/ModuleUpdates.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import java.util.Map.Entry;
 import java.util.Properties;
 import java.util.jar.Attributes;
+import java.util.jar.Manifest;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 import java.util.logging.SimpleFormatter;
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@
 public class ModuleUpdates {
 
     private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(ModuleUpdates.class.getName());
+
     static {
         LOGGER.addHandler(new StreamHandler(System.out, new SimpleFormatter()));
     }
@@ -181,8 +183,9 @@ static void setVersions(File srcDir, Map<String, ModuleVersionNumbers> versNums)
             String moduleName = moduleNameDir.getKey();
             File moduleDir = moduleNameDir.getValue();
             ModuleVersionNumbers thisVersNums = versNums.get(moduleName);
-            
+
             try {
+                LOGGER.log(Level.INFO, "Updating for module name: " + moduleName);
                 updateProjXml(moduleDir, versNums);
 
                 if (thisVersNums != null) {
@@ -224,22 +227,29 @@ private static void updateManifest(File moduleDir, ModuleVersionNumbers thisVers
             return;
         }
 
-        Attributes attributes;
+        Manifest manifest;
         try (FileInputStream manifestIs = new FileInputStream(manifestFile)) {
-            attributes = ManifestLoader.loadInputStream(manifestIs);
+            manifest = ManifestLoader.loadManifest(manifestIs);
         }
+        Attributes attributes = manifest.getMainAttributes();
 
-        updateAttr(attributes, IMPL_KEY, Integer.toString(thisVersNums.getImplementation()), true);
-        updateAttr(attributes, SPEC_KEY, thisVersNums.getSpec().getSemVerStr(), true);
-        updateAttr(attributes, RELEASE_KEY, thisVersNums.getRelease().getFullReleaseStr(), true);
+        boolean updated = updateAttr(attributes, IMPL_KEY, Integer.toString(thisVersNums.getImplementation()), true);
+        updated = updateAttr(attributes, SPEC_KEY, thisVersNums.getSpec().getSemVerStr(), true) || updated;
+        updated = updateAttr(attributes, RELEASE_KEY, thisVersNums.getRelease().getFullReleaseStr(), true) || updated;
+        if (updated) {
+            try (FileOutputStream manifestOut = new FileOutputStream(manifestFile)) {
+                manifest.write(manifestOut);
+            }
+        }
     }
 
-    private static void updateAttr(Attributes attributes, String key, String val, boolean updateOnlyIfPresent) {
+    private static boolean updateAttr(Attributes attributes, String key, String val, boolean updateOnlyIfPresent) {
         if (updateOnlyIfPresent && attributes.getValue(key) == null) {
-            return;
+            return false;
         }
 
         attributes.putValue(key, val);
+        return true;
     }
 
     private static void updateProjXml(File moduleDir, Map<String, ModuleVersionNumbers> versNums)
@@ -282,7 +292,6 @@ private static void updateProjXml(File moduleDir, Map<String, ModuleVersionNumbe
 
             // pretty print XML
             //transformer.setOutputProperty(OutputKeys.INDENT, "yes");
-
             DOMSource source = new DOMSource(projectXmlDoc);
             try (FileOutputStream xmlOut = new FileOutputStream(projXmlFile)) {
                 StreamResult result = new StreamResult(xmlOut);