diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 7b2eb6ca5..5b79fef74 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ PROJECT_VER_MAJOR     := 1
 PROJECT_VER_MINOR     := 0
 PROJECT_VER_PATCH     := 0
 PROJECT_VER_BUILD     := beta
-PROJECT_VER_BUILD_NUM := 4
+PROJECT_VER_BUILD_NUM := 5
 
 BOARD_PYPORTAL 		:= samd51-pyportal
 BOARD_METRO_AIRLIFT := samd51-metro-airlift
diff --git a/src/Wippersnapper.cpp b/src/Wippersnapper.cpp
index aae0c0f35..dd4601509 100644
--- a/src/Wippersnapper.cpp
+++ b/src/Wippersnapper.cpp
@@ -974,7 +974,8 @@ void Wippersnapper::enableWDT(int timeoutMS) {
 */
 /*******************************************************/
 void Wippersnapper::processPackets() {
-  runNetFSM();
+  // runNetFSM(); // NOTE: Removed for now, causes error with virtual _connect
+  // method when caused with WS object in another file.
   feedWDT();
   // Process all incoming packets from Wippersnapper MQTT Broker
   WS._mqtt->processPackets(10);
@@ -996,7 +997,8 @@ void Wippersnapper::processPackets() {
 /*******************************************************/
 void Wippersnapper::publish(const char *topic, uint8_t *payload, uint16_t bLen,
                             uint8_t qos) {
-  runNetFSM();
+  // runNetFSM(); // NOTE: Removed for now, causes error with virtual _connect
+  // method when caused with WS object in another file.
   feedWDT();
   WS._mqtt->publish(topic, payload, bLen, qos);
 }
diff --git a/src/Wippersnapper.h b/src/Wippersnapper.h
index 226360b12..bb3971e3a 100644
--- a/src/Wippersnapper.h
+++ b/src/Wippersnapper.h
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@
 #endif
 
 #define WS_VERSION                                                             \
-  "1.0.0-beta.4" ///< WipperSnapper app. version (semver-formatted)
+  "1.0.0-beta.5" ///< WipperSnapper app. version (semver-formatted)
 
 // Reserved Adafruit IO MQTT topics
 #define TOPIC_IO_THROTTLE "/throttle" ///< Adafruit IO Throttle MQTT Topic