diff --git a/client/pom.xml b/client/pom.xml
index d0ae4a78..12441eb9 100644
--- a/client/pom.xml
+++ b/client/pom.xml
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>io.split.client</groupId>
         <artifactId>java-client-parent</artifactId>
-        <version>4.16.0</version>
+        <version>4.17.0-rc1</version>
     </parent>
-    <version>4.16.0</version>
+    <version>4.17.0-rc1</version>
     <artifactId>java-client</artifactId>
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
     <name>Java Client</name>
diff --git a/client/src/main/java/io/split/client/SplitFactoryImpl.java b/client/src/main/java/io/split/client/SplitFactoryImpl.java
index 978f1603..2e1ffe78 100644
--- a/client/src/main/java/io/split/client/SplitFactoryImpl.java
+++ b/client/src/main/java/io/split/client/SplitFactoryImpl.java
@@ -523,24 +523,7 @@ protected static SplitHttpClient buildSplitHttpClient(String apiToken, SplitClie
             SDKMetadata sdkMetadata, RequestDecorator requestDecorator)
             throws URISyntaxException {
 
-        SSLContext sslContext;
-        if (config.proxyMTLSAuth() != null) {
-            _log.debug("Proxy setup using mTLS");
-            try {
-                KeyStore keyStore = KeyStore.getInstance("PKCS12");
-                InputStream keystoreStream = java.nio.file.Files.newInputStream(Paths.get(config.proxyMTLSAuth().getP12File()));
-                keyStore.load(keystoreStream, config.proxyMTLSAuth().getP12FilePassKey().toCharArray());
-                sslContext = SSLContexts.custom()
-                        .loadKeyMaterial(keyStore, config.proxyMTLSAuth().getP12FilePassKey().toCharArray())
-                        .build();
-            } catch (Exception e) {
-                _log.error("Exception caught while processing p12 file for Proxy mTLS auth: ", e);
-                _log.warn("Ignoring p12 mTLS config and switching to default context");
-                sslContext = SSLContexts.createSystemDefault();
-            }
-        } else {
-            sslContext = SSLContexts.createSystemDefault();
-        }
+        SSLContext sslContext = buildSSLContext(config);
 
         SSLConnectionSocketFactory sslSocketFactory = SSLConnectionSocketFactoryBuilder.create()
                 .setSslContext(sslContext)
@@ -585,8 +568,10 @@ private static CloseableHttpClient buildSSEdHttpClient(String apiToken, SplitCli
                 .setConnectTimeout(Timeout.ofMilliseconds(SSE_CONNECT_TIMEOUT))
                 .build();
 
+        SSLContext sslContext = buildSSLContext(config);
+
         SSLConnectionSocketFactory sslSocketFactory = SSLConnectionSocketFactoryBuilder.create()
-                .setSslContext(SSLContexts.createSystemDefault())
+                .setSslContext(sslContext)
                 .setTlsVersions(TLS.V_1_1, TLS.V_1_2)
                 .build();
 
@@ -613,6 +598,28 @@ private static CloseableHttpClient buildSSEdHttpClient(String apiToken, SplitCli
         return httpClientbuilder.build();
     }
 
+    private static SSLContext buildSSLContext(SplitClientConfig config) {
+        SSLContext sslContext;
+        if (config.proxyMTLSAuth() != null) {
+            _log.debug("Proxy setup using mTLS");
+            try {
+                KeyStore keyStore = KeyStore.getInstance("PKCS12");
+                InputStream keystoreStream = java.nio.file.Files.newInputStream(Paths.get(config.proxyMTLSAuth().getP12File()));
+                keyStore.load(keystoreStream, config.proxyMTLSAuth().getP12FilePassKey().toCharArray());
+                sslContext = SSLContexts.custom()
+                        .loadKeyMaterial(keyStore, config.proxyMTLSAuth().getP12FilePassKey().toCharArray())
+                        .build();
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                _log.error("Exception caught while processing p12 file for Proxy mTLS auth: ", e);
+                _log.warn("Ignoring p12 mTLS config and switching to default context");
+                sslContext = SSLContexts.createSystemDefault();
+            }
+        } else {
+            sslContext = SSLContexts.createSystemDefault();
+        }
+        return sslContext;
+    }
+
     private static HttpClientBuilder setupProxy(HttpClientBuilder httpClientbuilder, SplitClientConfig config) {
         _log.info("Initializing Split SDK with proxy settings");
         DefaultProxyRoutePlanner routePlanner = new DefaultProxyRoutePlanner(config.proxy());
diff --git a/okhttp-modules/pom.xml b/okhttp-modules/pom.xml
index a8645f9c..a474be3a 100644
--- a/okhttp-modules/pom.xml
+++ b/okhttp-modules/pom.xml
@@ -5,10 +5,10 @@
     <parent>
         <artifactId>java-client-parent</artifactId>
         <groupId>io.split.client</groupId>
-        <version>4.16.0</version>
+        <version>4.17.0-rc1</version>
     </parent>
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
-    <version>4.16.0</version>
+    <version>4.17.0-rc1</version>
     <artifactId>okhttp-modules</artifactId>
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
     <name>http-modules</name>
diff --git a/pluggable-storage/pom.xml b/pluggable-storage/pom.xml
index 21b0bdac..b67933fe 100644
--- a/pluggable-storage/pom.xml
+++ b/pluggable-storage/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     <parent>
         <artifactId>java-client-parent</artifactId>
         <groupId>io.split.client</groupId>
-        <version>4.16.0</version>
+        <version>4.17.0-rc1</version>
     </parent>
 
     <version>2.1.0</version>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 7b21f1ec..5650bbc4 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
     <groupId>io.split.client</groupId>
     <artifactId>java-client-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>4.16.0</version>
+    <version>4.17.0-rc1</version>
     <dependencyManagement>
         <dependencies>
             <dependency>
diff --git a/redis-wrapper/pom.xml b/redis-wrapper/pom.xml
index 301739ce..679f5502 100644
--- a/redis-wrapper/pom.xml
+++ b/redis-wrapper/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     <parent>
         <artifactId>java-client-parent</artifactId>
         <groupId>io.split.client</groupId>
-        <version>4.16.0</version>
+        <version>4.17.0-rc1</version>
     </parent>
     <artifactId>redis-wrapper</artifactId>
     <version>3.1.1</version>
diff --git a/testing/pom.xml b/testing/pom.xml
index 0fae6cdf..9c01ba09 100644
--- a/testing/pom.xml
+++ b/testing/pom.xml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
     </parent>
     <artifactId>java-client-testing</artifactId>
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
-    <version>4.16.0</version>
+    <version>4.17.0-rc1</version>
     <name>Java Client For Testing</name>
     <description>Testing suite for Java SDK for Split</description>
     <dependencies>