diff --git a/lib/core/settings.py b/lib/core/settings.py
index 05dc2d151..d4d995a58 100755
--- 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 = "1.1.5.3"
+VERSION = "1.1.5.4"
 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)
diff --git a/lib/request/connect.py b/lib/request/connect.py
index 4e2a0f74c..b45e2a7dd 100644
--- a/lib/request/connect.py
+++ b/lib/request/connect.py
@@ -1033,7 +1033,7 @@ class Connect(object):
                         conf.evalCode = conf.evalCode.replace(EVALCODE_KEYWORD_SUFFIX, "")
                         break
                     else:
-                        conf.evalCode = conf.evalCode.replace(ex.text.strip(), replacement)
+                        conf.evalCode = conf.evalCode.replace(getUnicode(ex.text.strip(), UNICODE_ENCODING), replacement)
                 else:
                     break
 
diff --git a/txt/checksum.md5 b/txt/checksum.md5
index ee55d2bfa..72c05ac3b 100644
--- a/txt/checksum.md5
+++ b/txt/checksum.md5
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ ebb778c2d26eba8b34d7d8658e4105a6  lib/core/optiondict.py
 d8e9250f3775119df07e9070eddccd16  lib/core/replication.py
 785f86e3f963fa3798f84286a4e83ff2  lib/core/revision.py
 40c80b28b3a5819b737a5a17d4565ae9  lib/core/session.py
-06e5a2f64fe5cc894c7f1188c86133c1  lib/core/settings.py
+9724eef5ffad3ea233a9340f05210cdb  lib/core/settings.py
 d91291997d2bd2f6028aaf371bf1d3b6  lib/core/shell.py
 2ad85c130cc5f2b3701ea85c2f6bbf20  lib/core/subprocessng.py
 155e2d3fda87b2e3ffa4f7a770513946  lib/core/target.py
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ aa89ea0c7c44eb74eaaeeccaddc94d39  lib/parse/cmdline.py
 403d873f1d2fd0c7f73d83f104e41850  lib/request/basicauthhandler.py
 aa8abda6eab79646b1759c0653925328  lib/request/basic.py
 ef48de622b0a6b4a71df64b0d2785ef8  lib/request/comparison.py
-d55a7a97efca1205510ecb0e8f7149e1  lib/request/connect.py
+e5d14d0b8c07e082fb819b515f5b1dfb  lib/request/connect.py
 fb6b788d0016ab4ec5e5f661f0f702ad  lib/request/direct.py
 cc1163d38e9b7ee5db2adac6784c02bb  lib/request/dns.py
 5dcdb37823a0b5eff65cd1018bcf09e4  lib/request/httpshandler.py