diff --git a/lib/core/settings.py b/lib/core/settings.py
index d93f2fc48..62223807e 100644
--- a/lib/core/settings.py
+++ b/lib/core/settings.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ from lib.core.enums import DBMS_DIRECTORY_NAME
 from lib.core.enums import OS
 
 # sqlmap version (<major>.<minor>.<month>.<monthly commit>)
-VERSION = "1.2.3.25"
+VERSION = "1.2.3.26"
 TYPE = "dev" if VERSION.count('.') > 2 and VERSION.split('.')[-1] != '0' else "stable"
 TYPE_COLORS = {"dev": 33, "stable": 90, "pip": 34}
 VERSION_STRING = "sqlmap/%s#%s" % ('.'.join(VERSION.split('.')[:-1]) if VERSION.count('.') > 2 and VERSION.split('.')[-1] == '0' else VERSION, TYPE)
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ DEV_EMAIL_ADDRESS = "dev@sqlmap.org"
 ISSUES_PAGE = "https://github.com/sqlmapproject/sqlmap/issues/new"
 GIT_REPOSITORY = "https://github.com/sqlmapproject/sqlmap.git"
 GIT_PAGE = "https://github.com/sqlmapproject/sqlmap"
+ZIPBALL_PAGE = "https://github.com/sqlmapproject/sqlmap/zipball/master"
 
 # colorful banner
 BANNER = """\033[01;33m\
diff --git a/lib/core/update.py b/lib/core/update.py
index 18771bb15..4d56e1396 100644
--- a/lib/core/update.py
+++ b/lib/core/update.py
@@ -5,21 +5,27 @@ Copyright (c) 2006-2018 sqlmap developers (http://sqlmap.org/)
 See the file 'LICENSE' for copying permission
 """
 
+import glob
 import os
 import re
+import shutil
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import time
+import urllib
+import zipfile
 
 from lib.core.common import dataToStdout
 from lib.core.common import getSafeExString
 from lib.core.common import pollProcess
+from lib.core.common import readInput
 from lib.core.data import conf
 from lib.core.data import logger
 from lib.core.data import paths
 from lib.core.revision import getRevisionNumber
 from lib.core.settings import GIT_REPOSITORY
 from lib.core.settings import IS_WIN
+from lib.core.settings import ZIPBALL_PAGE
 from lib.core.settings import UNICODE_ENCODING
 
 def update():
@@ -29,9 +35,54 @@ def update():
     success = False
 
     if not os.path.exists(os.path.join(paths.SQLMAP_ROOT_PATH, ".git")):
-        errMsg = "not a git repository. Please checkout the 'sqlmapproject/sqlmap' repository "
-        errMsg += "from GitHub (e.g. 'git clone --depth 1 %s sqlmap')" % GIT_REPOSITORY
-        logger.error(errMsg)
+        warnMsg = "not a git repository. It is recommended to clone the 'sqlmapproject/sqlmap' repository "
+        warnMsg += "from GitHub (e.g. 'git clone --depth 1 %s sqlmap')" % GIT_REPOSITORY
+        logger.warn(warnMsg)
+
+        message = "do you want to try to fetch the latest 'zipball' from repository and extract it? [Y/n]"
+        if readInput(message, default='Y', boolean=True):
+            directory = os.path.abspath(paths.SQLMAP_ROOT_PATH)
+
+            try:
+                open(os.path.join(directory, "sqlmap.py"), "w+b")
+            except Exception, ex:
+                errMsg = "unable to update content of directory '%s' ('%s')" % (directory, getSafeExString(ex))
+                logger.error(errMsg)
+            else:
+                for wildcard in ('*', ".*"):
+                    for _ in glob.glob(os.path.join(directory, wildcard)):
+                        try:
+                            if os.path.isdir(_):
+                                shutil.rmtree(_)
+                            else:
+                                os.remove(_)
+                        except:
+                            pass
+
+                if glob.glob(os.path.join(directory, '*')):
+                    errMsg = "unable to clear the content of directory '%s'" % directory
+                    logger.error(errMsg)
+                else:
+                    try:
+                        archive = urllib.urlretrieve(ZIPBALL_PAGE)[0]
+
+                        with zipfile.ZipFile(archive) as f:
+                            for info in f.infolist():
+                                info.filename = re.sub(r"\Asqlmap[^/]+", "", info.filename)
+                                if info.filename:
+                                    f.extract(info, directory)
+
+                        filepath = os.path.join(paths.SQLMAP_ROOT_PATH, "lib", "core", "settings.py")
+                        if os.path.isfile(filepath):
+                            with open(filepath, "rb") as f:
+                                version = re.search(r"(?m)^VERSION\s*=\s*['\"]([^'\"]+)", f.read()).group(1)
+                                logger.info("updated to the latest version '%s#dev'" % version)
+                                success = True
+                    except Exception, ex:
+                        logger.error("update could not be completed ('%s')" % getSafeExString(ex))
+                    else:
+                        if not success:
+                            logger.error("update could not be completed")
     else:
         infoMsg = "updating sqlmap to the latest development revision from the "
         infoMsg += "GitHub repository"
@@ -69,7 +120,7 @@ def update():
             infoMsg += "download the latest snapshot from "
             infoMsg += "https://github.com/sqlmapproject/sqlmap/downloads"
         else:
-            infoMsg = "for Linux platform it's required "
+            infoMsg = "for Linux platform it's recommended "
             infoMsg += "to install a standard 'git' package (e.g.: 'sudo apt-get install git')"
 
         logger.info(infoMsg)
diff --git a/txt/checksum.md5 b/txt/checksum.md5
index f9605b7ab..7fd8c7e67 100644
--- a/txt/checksum.md5
+++ b/txt/checksum.md5
@@ -46,14 +46,14 @@ ffa5f01f39b17c8d73423acca6cfe86a  lib/core/readlineng.py
 0c3eef46bdbf87e29a3f95f90240d192  lib/core/replication.py
 a7db43859b61569b601b97f187dd31c5  lib/core/revision.py
 fcb74fcc9577523524659ec49e2e964b  lib/core/session.py
-13c487c03a2555f9addb386990b77004  lib/core/settings.py
+f126d635d4d09efd76120f31ae2023ba  lib/core/settings.py
 0dfc2ed40adf72e302291f6ecd4406f6  lib/core/shell.py
 a7edc9250d13af36ac0108f259859c19  lib/core/subprocessng.py
 12f8c42ed742581644f6476a7d80dcf8  lib/core/target.py
 72d499ca8d792e90a1ebfb2ad2341a51  lib/core/testing.py
 de9922a29c71a235cb95a916ff925db2  lib/core/threads.py
 c40758411bb0bd68764d78e0bb72bd0f  lib/core/unescaper.py
-1b655a78fe4d937d39131938a4a5a1d6  lib/core/update.py
+bf7f5fc45f9ca25f403066b5642cdc67  lib/core/update.py
 e772deb63270375e685fa5a7b775c382  lib/core/wordlist.py
 1e5532ede194ac9c083891c2f02bca93  lib/__init__.py
 7620f1f4b8791e13c7184c06b5421754  lib/parse/banner.py