diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 2d8a4343c..9c72229ea 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-4.4.0-rc.1
+4.4.0-rc.2
diff --git a/build-release.sh b/build-release.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index b3fedd992..000000000
--- a/build-release.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,119 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-# Build script for Pulse releases
-# Creates release archives for different architectures
-
-set -euo pipefail
-
-# Use Go 1.23 if available
-if [ -x /usr/local/go/bin/go ]; then
-    export PATH=/usr/local/go/bin:$PATH
-fi
-
-VERSION=${1:-$(cat VERSION)}
-BUILD_DIR="build"
-RELEASE_DIR="release"
-
-echo "Building Pulse v${VERSION}..."
-
-# Clean previous builds
-rm -rf $BUILD_DIR $RELEASE_DIR
-mkdir -p $BUILD_DIR $RELEASE_DIR
-
-# Build frontend
-echo "Building frontend..."
-cd frontend-modern
-npm ci
-npm run build
-cd ..
-
-# Copy frontend to api directory for embedding
-echo "Copying frontend for embedding..."
-rm -rf internal/api/frontend-modern
-cp -r frontend-modern internal/api/
-
-# Build for different architectures
-declare -A builds=(
-    ["linux-amd64"]="GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64"
-    ["linux-arm64"]="GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm64"
-    ["linux-armv7"]="GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm GOARM=7"
-)
-
-for build_name in "${!builds[@]}"; do
-    echo "Building for $build_name..."
-    
-    # Get build environment
-    build_env="${builds[$build_name]}"
-    
-    # Build binary
-    env $build_env go build \
-        -ldflags="-s -w -X github.com/rcourtman/pulse-go-rewrite/internal/updates.version=${VERSION}" \
-        -trimpath \
-        -o "$BUILD_DIR/pulse-$build_name" \
-        ./cmd/pulse
-    
-    # Create release archive
-    tar_name="pulse-v${VERSION}-${build_name}.tar.gz"
-    
-    # Create staging directory with bin/ structure (matches what community script expects)
-    staging_dir="$BUILD_DIR/pulse-staging"
-    rm -rf "$staging_dir"
-    mkdir -p "$staging_dir/bin"
-    
-    # Copy files to match universal archive structure
-    cp "$BUILD_DIR/pulse-$build_name" "$staging_dir/bin/pulse"
-    cp README.md LICENSE install.sh "$staging_dir/"
-    echo "$VERSION" > "$staging_dir/VERSION"
-    
-    # Create tarball
-    cd "$staging_dir"
-    tar -czf "../../$RELEASE_DIR/$tar_name" .
-    cd ../..
-    
-    # Cleanup staging
-    rm -rf "$staging_dir"
-    
-    echo "Created $RELEASE_DIR/$tar_name"
-done
-
-echo "Architecture-specific releases built!"
-
-# Create universal release tarball with all architectures
-echo "Creating universal release tarball..."
-universal_staging="$BUILD_DIR/pulse-staging"
-rm -rf "$universal_staging"
-mkdir -p "$universal_staging/bin"
-
-# Copy all architecture binaries to bin/
-for build_name in "${!builds[@]}"; do
-    cp "$BUILD_DIR/pulse-$build_name" "$universal_staging/bin/pulse-$build_name"
-done
-
-# Use amd64 binary as default 'pulse' for seamless usage
-cp "$BUILD_DIR/pulse-linux-amd64" "$universal_staging/bin/pulse"
-chmod +x "$universal_staging/bin/pulse"
-
-# Copy common files (frontend is now embedded, no need to copy dist)
-cp README.md LICENSE install.sh "$universal_staging/" 2>/dev/null || true
-echo "$VERSION" > "$universal_staging/VERSION"
-
-# Create first-run cleanup flag
-touch "$universal_staging/.first-run-cleanup"
-
-# Create the universal tarball (this is what the community script expects)
-cd "$universal_staging"
-tar -czf "../../$RELEASE_DIR/pulse-v${VERSION}.tar.gz" .
-cd ../..
-
-# Cleanup
-rm -rf "$universal_staging"
-
-echo "Created universal release: $RELEASE_DIR/pulse-v${VERSION}.tar.gz"
-
-# Update checksums
-cd $RELEASE_DIR
-sha256sum *.tar.gz > checksums.txt
-cd ..
-
-echo "Final release contents:"
-ls -lh $RELEASE_DIR/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/internal/updates/version.go b/internal/updates/version.go
index b6e0ec760..1bb5697f3 100644
--- a/internal/updates/version.go
+++ b/internal/updates/version.go
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ func GetCurrentVersion() (*VersionInfo, error) {
 	}
 	
 	// Final fallback
-	version := "4.4.0-rc.1"
+	version := "4.4.0-rc.2"
 	channel := "stable"
 	if strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(version), "rc") {
 		channel = "rc"