diff --git a/.props/_GlobalStaticVersion.props b/.props/_GlobalStaticVersion.props
index 90d44e15a5..55f97cf80e 100644
--- a/.props/_GlobalStaticVersion.props
+++ b/.props/_GlobalStaticVersion.props
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@
       Update for every public release. 
     -->
     <SemanticVersionMajor>2</SemanticVersionMajor>
-    <SemanticVersionMinor>16</SemanticVersionMinor> <!-- If changing the Minor version, also update the Date value. -->
+    <SemanticVersionMinor>17</SemanticVersionMinor> <!-- If changing the Minor version, also update the Date value. -->
     <SemanticVersionPatch>0</SemanticVersionPatch>
-    <PreReleaseMilestone></PreReleaseMilestone> <!--Valid values: beta1, beta2, EMPTY for stable -->
+    <PreReleaseMilestone>beta1</PreReleaseMilestone> <!--Valid values: beta1, beta2, EMPTY for stable -->
     <PreReleaseMilestone Condition="'$(NightlyBuild)' == 'True'">nightly</PreReleaseMilestone> <!-- Overwrite this property for nightly builds from the DEVELOP branch. -->
     <!-- 
       Date when Semantic Version was changed. 
@@ -22,13 +22,16 @@
       as it will restart file versions so 2.4.0-beta1 may have higher 
       file version (like 2.4.0.2222) than 2.4.0-beta2 (like 2.4.0.1111)
     -->
-    <SemanticVersionDate>2020-09-08</SemanticVersionDate>
+    <SemanticVersionDate>2020-12-01</SemanticVersionDate>
 
     <!--
-      Pre-release version is used to distinguish internally built NuGet packages.
-      Pre-release version = Minutes since semantic version was set, divided by 5 (to make it fit in a UInt16 (max 65535 = ~7 months).
+      BuildNumber uniquely identifies all builds (The max allowed value is UInt16.MaxValue = 65535).
+      The BuildNumber is used for nightly build package name and DLL assembly version.
+      NuGet uses alphanumeric sorting, so this value is padded with zeros.
+      BuildNumber = Hours since semantic version was set, divided by 12 (~89 years).
     -->
-    <BuildNumber>$([MSBuild]::Divide($([System.DateTime]::Now.Subtract($([System.DateTime]::Parse($(SemanticVersionDate)))).TotalMinutes), 5).ToString('F0'))</BuildNumber>
+    <BuildNumberHours>$([MSBuild]::Divide($([System.DateTime]::Now.Subtract($([System.DateTime]::Parse($(SemanticVersionDate)))).TotalHours), 12))</BuildNumberHours>
+    <BuildNumber>$([System.Math]::Floor($(BuildNumberHours)).ToString('F0').PadLeft(5, '0'))</BuildNumber>
 
     <VersionPrefix>$(SemanticVersionMajor).$(SemanticVersionMinor).$(SemanticVersionPatch)</VersionPrefix>
     <VersionSuffix>$(PreReleaseMilestone)</VersionSuffix>
diff --git a/.scripts/release_NupkgAudit.ps1 b/.scripts/release_NupkgAudit.ps1
index 7e87658a1e..3fb53b4dd9 100644
--- a/.scripts/release_NupkgAudit.ps1
+++ b/.scripts/release_NupkgAudit.ps1
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ function Get-DoesDllVersionsMatch ([string]$dllPath) {
 
     $message = "File Version: '$fileVersion' Assembly Version: '$assemblyVersion";
     $requirement = "Versions should match."
-    Test-Condition ($fileVersion.Equals($assemblyVersion)) $message $requirement;
+    Test-Condition ([version]$fileVersion -eq [version]$assemblyVersion) $message $requirement;
 }
 
 function Get-IsValidPackageId([xml]$nuspecXml) {