diff --git a/src/utils/BamTools/BamWriter.cpp b/src/utils/BamTools/BamWriter.cpp
index c834d45aa86449b1a48077d3e27d320cb6530d78..d3363807d23d00b20f439fad7fc17c9a932093e7 100644
--- a/src/utils/BamTools/BamWriter.cpp
+++ b/src/utils/BamTools/BamWriter.cpp
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ void BamWriter::BamWriterPrivate::SaveAlignment(const BamAlignment& al) {
     const unsigned int encodedQueryLen = encodedQuery.size();
 
     // store the tag data length
-    const unsigned int tagDataLength = al.TagData.size() + 1;
+    const unsigned int tagDataLength = al.TagData.size();
 
     // assign the BAM core data
     unsigned int buffer[8];
diff --git a/src/utils/version/version.h b/src/utils/version/version.h
index 0e95be167522989e335fabe310ca5ef79688e0ff..4c794260ab3bdda44d544254c1203c9d846991c2 100644
--- a/src/utils/version/version.h
+++ b/src/utils/version/version.h
@@ -3,6 +3,6 @@
 
 // define the version.  All tools in the 
 // suite carry the same version number.
-#define VERSION "2.5.3"
+#define VERSION "2.5.4"
 
 #endif /* VERSION_H */