diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/BUG-REPORT.yml b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/BUG-REPORT.yml
index df09ebe..fac14a9 100644
--- a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/BUG-REPORT.yml
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/BUG-REPORT.yml
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ body:
       label: Version
       description: What version of our software are you running?
       options:
-        - 2.1.1 (Default)
+        - 2.2.0 (Default)
         - 1.3.5
         - older (<1.3.5)
     validations:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/github-build-release.yml b/.github/workflows/github-build-release.yml
index b4a6da1..d428be1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/github-build-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/github-build-release.yml
@@ -44,6 +44,16 @@ jobs:
           asset_path: ./target/kafka-connect-mq-source-${{env.VERSION}}-jar-with-dependencies.jar
           asset_name: kafka-connect-mq-source-${{env.VERSION}}-jar-with-dependencies.jar
           asset_content_type: application/java-archive
+      - name: Upload Release Asset With non-MQ Dependencies
+        id: upload-release-asset-with-dependencies-exc-mq
+        uses: actions/upload-release-asset@v1
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        with:
+          upload_url: ${{ steps.create_release.outputs.upload_url }}
+          asset_path: ./target/kafka-connect-mq-source-${{env.VERSION}}-dependencies-exc-mq.jar
+          asset_name: kafka-connect-mq-source-${{env.VERSION}}-dependencies-exc-mq.jar
+          asset_content_type: application/java-archive
       - name: Upload Release Asset
         id: upload-release-asset
         uses: actions/upload-release-asset@v1
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 33f97ed..402a1ce 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
     <groupId>com.ibm.eventstreams.connect</groupId>
     <artifactId>kafka-connect-mq-source</artifactId>
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
-    <version>2.1.1</version>
+    <version>2.2.0</version>
     <name>kafka-connect-mq-source</name>
     <organization>
         <name>IBM Corporation</name>
@@ -45,13 +45,13 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.kafka</groupId>
             <artifactId>connect-api</artifactId>
-            <version>3.6.2</version>
+            <version>3.7.1</version>
             <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.kafka</groupId>
             <artifactId>connect-json</artifactId>
-            <version>3.6.2</version>
+            <version>3.7.1</version>
             <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
 
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.ibm.mq</groupId>
             <artifactId>com.ibm.mq.allclient</artifactId>
-            <version>9.3.3.1</version>
+            <version>9.4.0.5</version>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
@@ -81,12 +81,12 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
             <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
-            <version>2.0.7</version>
+            <version>2.0.16</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
             <artifactId>slf4j-simple</artifactId>
-            <version>2.0.7</version>
+            <version>2.0.16</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
         <!-- tests in src/integration depend on a running MQ queue manager -->
@@ -94,14 +94,14 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.testcontainers</groupId>
             <artifactId>testcontainers</artifactId>
-            <version>1.17.6</version>
+            <version>1.20.1</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.assertj</groupId>
             <artifactId>assertj-core</artifactId>
-            <version>3.24.2</version>
+            <version>3.26.3</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
 
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@
 
             <plugin>
                 <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.1</version>
+                <version>3.13.0</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <source>1.8</source>
                     <target>1.8</target>
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@
             <!-- run unit tests -->
             <plugin>
                 <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.0.0-M7</version>
+                <version>3.4.0</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <argLine>${surefire.jacoco.args}</argLine>
                     <systemPropertyVariables>
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@
             <!-- run integration tests -->
             <plugin>
                 <artifactId>maven-failsafe-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.0.0-M7</version>
+                <version>3.5.0</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <argLine>${failsafe.jacoco.args}</argLine>
                     <systemPropertyVariables>
@@ -174,23 +174,38 @@
                 </executions>
             </plugin>
 
-            <!-- build the release jar -->
+            <!-- build the release jars -->
             <plugin>
                 <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.4.1</version>
+                <version>3.7.1</version>
                 <executions>
+                    <!-- an uber jar including all runtime dependencies -->
                     <execution>
+                        <id>dependencies-all</id>
                         <phase>package</phase>
                         <goals>
                             <goal>single</goal>
                         </goals>
+                        <configuration>
+                            <descriptors>
+                                <descriptor>src/assembly/package.xml</descriptor>
+                            </descriptors>
+                        </configuration>
+                    </execution>
+                    <!-- an uber jar including runtime dependencies other than the MQ client -->
+                    <execution>
+                        <id>dependencies-exc-mq</id>
+                        <phase>package</phase>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>single</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                        <configuration>
+                            <descriptors>
+                                <descriptor>src/assembly/package-excludemq.xml</descriptor>
+                            </descriptors>
+                        </configuration>
                     </execution>
                 </executions>
-                <configuration>
-                    <descriptors>
-                        <descriptor>src/assembly/package.xml</descriptor>
-                    </descriptors>
-                </configuration>
             </plugin>
 
             <!-- add the src/integration folder as a test folder, which lets us keep -->
@@ -199,7 +214,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                 <artifactId>build-helper-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.3.0</version>
+                <version>3.6.0</version>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>
                         <id>add-test-source</id>
@@ -220,7 +235,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.jacoco</groupId>
                 <artifactId>jacoco-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>0.8.8</version>
+                <version>0.8.12</version>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>
                         <id>before-unit-test-execution</id>
@@ -304,7 +319,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-checkstyle-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.2.0</version>
+                <version>3.5.0</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <consoleOutput>true</consoleOutput>
                     <failsOnError>true</failsOnError>
diff --git a/src/assembly/package-excludemq.xml b/src/assembly/package-excludemq.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f395787
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/assembly/package-excludemq.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!--
+ * Copyright 2018, 2024 IBM Corporation
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ -->
+<assembly xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/ASSEMBLY/2.0.0"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/ASSEMBLY/2.0.0
+    http://maven.apache.org/xsd/assembly-2.0.0.xsd">
+  <id>dependencies-exc-mq</id>
+  <formats>
+    <format>jar</format>
+  </formats>
+  <includeBaseDirectory>false</includeBaseDirectory>
+  <files>
+    <file>
+      <source>LICENSE</source>
+      <outputDirectory></outputDirectory>
+    </file>
+  </files>
+  <dependencySets>
+    <dependencySet>
+      <outputDirectory></outputDirectory>
+      <unpack>true</unpack>
+      <unpackOptions>
+        <excludes>
+          <exclude>**/copyright-exclude</exclude>
+          <exclude>META-INF/maven/**</exclude>
+          <exclude>META-INF/LICENSE*</exclude>
+        </excludes>
+      </unpackOptions>
+      <excludes>
+        <exclude>com.ibm.mq:com.ibm.mq.allclient</exclude>
+      </excludes>
+      <useTransitiveFiltering>true</useTransitiveFiltering>
+      <scope>runtime</scope>
+    </dependencySet>
+  </dependencySets>
+</assembly>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/ibm/eventstreams/connect/mqsource/MQSourceConnector.java b/src/main/java/com/ibm/eventstreams/connect/mqsource/MQSourceConnector.java
index 453056f..1621055 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/ibm/eventstreams/connect/mqsource/MQSourceConnector.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/ibm/eventstreams/connect/mqsource/MQSourceConnector.java
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ public class MQSourceConnector extends SourceConnector {
         CONFIG_VALUE_MQ_CLIENT_RECONNECT_OPTION_DISABLED.toLowerCase(Locale.ENGLISH)
     };
 
-    public static String version = "2.1.1";
+    public static String version = "2.2.0";
 
     private Map<String, String> configProps;