diff --git a/strimzi-kafka-operator.yaml b/strimzi-kafka-operator.yaml
index 43bcfae77fc..4bedd4a6f6f 100644
--- a/strimzi-kafka-operator.yaml
+++ b/strimzi-kafka-operator.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package:
   name: strimzi-kafka-operator
-  version: 0.43.0
-  epoch: 4
+  version: 0.44.0
+  epoch: 0
   description: Apache Kafka® running on Kubernetes
   copyright:
     - license: Apache-2.0
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ pipeline:
     with:
       repository: https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator
       tag: ${{package.version}}
-      expected-commit: 23c0fb0726e1f212c6182eb251ff23697e72a353
+      expected-commit: 7e49e5fb5c01cb001476b82710dcb954c038fc08
 
   - uses: patch
     with: