diff --git a/build/configmgr.proj.env b/build/configmgr.proj.env
index 7e741350e..bbbf917c8 100644
--- a/build/configmgr.proj.env
+++ b/build/configmgr.proj.env
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 PROJECT="configmgr"
-VERSION=2.17.0
+VERSION=2.16.0
 DEPS="QUICKJS LIBYAML"
 
 QUICKJS="quickjs"
diff --git a/build/getesm.proj.env b/build/getesm.proj.env
index a47c9045c..0f7d7f54d 100644
--- a/build/getesm.proj.env
+++ b/build/getesm.proj.env
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 PROJECT="getesm"
-VERSION=2.17.0
+VERSION=2.16.0
 DEPS=""
diff --git a/c/jsonschema.c b/c/jsonschema.c
index 525ac1653..60448870c 100644
--- a/c/jsonschema.c
+++ b/c/jsonschema.c
@@ -1108,7 +1108,27 @@ static JSValueSpec *resolveRef(JsonValidator *validator, ValidityException *pend
 static VResult validateJSONSimple(JsonValidator *validator,
                                   Json *value, JSValueSpec *valueSpec, int depth, EvalSet *evalSetList){
   if (jsonIsNull(value)){
-    return validateType(validator,JSTYPE_NULL,valueSpec,depth+1);
+    VResult typeResult = validateType(validator,JSTYPE_NULL,valueSpec,depth+1);
+    if (vStatusValid(typeResult.status)) {
+      return typeResult;
+    } else if (validator->allowStringToBeNull) {
+      // FIXME: Some users were relying upon a bug we fixed, where an empty value would be treated as a string.
+      // TODO: Remove this in v3, we should not keep this bug compatability forever.
+      if (((1 << JSTYPE_STRING) & valueSpec->typeMask) != 0){
+        Json *emptyStringJson = (Json*)safeMalloc(sizeof(Json), "Empty String JSON");
+        emptyStringJson->type = JSON_TYPE_STRING;
+        char emptyString[1] = {0};
+        emptyStringJson->data.string = emptyString;
+        // Check if schema is okay with an "empty string" as the previous bug had null be empty string.
+        VResult stringResult = validateJSONString(validator,emptyStringJson,valueSpec,depth+1);
+        safeFree((char*)emptyStringJson, sizeof(Json));
+        return stringResult;
+      } else{
+        return simpleFailure(validator, "string cannot be null for %s\n", validatorAccessPath(validator));
+      }                   
+    } else {
+      return typeResult;
+    }
   } else if (jsonIsBoolean(value)){
     return validateType(validator,JSTYPE_BOOLEAN,valueSpec,depth+1);
   } else if (jsonIsObject(value)){
@@ -1420,6 +1440,8 @@ static VResult validateJSON(JsonValidator *validator,
 int jsonValidateSchema(JsonValidator *validator, Json *value, JsonSchema *topSchema,
                        JsonSchema **otherSchemas, int otherSchemaCount){
   int result = 0;
+  validator->allowStringToBeNull = true;
+
   if (setjmp(validator->recoveryData) == 0) {  /* normal execution */
     validator->topSchema = topSchema;
     validator->otherSchemas = otherSchemas;
diff --git a/h/jsonschema.h b/h/jsonschema.h
index 4b8543334..0bf703e31 100644
--- a/h/jsonschema.h
+++ b/h/jsonschema.h
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@ typedef struct JsonValidator_tag {
   int         fileRegexError;
   jmp_buf     recoveryData;
   ShortLivedHeap *evalHeap;
+  bool        allowStringToBeNull;
 } JsonValidator;
 
 #define JSON_SCHEMA_DRAFT_4 400
diff --git a/manifest.template.yaml b/manifest.template.yaml
index 8796bb058..56a21f1f9 100644
--- a/manifest.template.yaml
+++ b/manifest.template.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 name: zowe-common-c
 
-version: 2.17.0
+version: 2.16.0
 
 homepage: https://zowe.org
 keywords: