diff --git a/data/txt/sha256sums.txt b/data/txt/sha256sums.txt
index 047380c1954..88c0a6ef5eb 100644
--- a/data/txt/sha256sums.txt
+++ b/data/txt/sha256sums.txt
@@ -188,12 +188,12 @@ c4bfb493a03caf84dd362aec7c248097841de804b7413d0e1ecb8a90c8550bc0  lib/core/readl
 d1bd70c1a55858495c727fbec91e30af267459c8f64d50fabf9e4ee2c007e920  lib/core/replication.py
 1d0f80b0193ac5204527bfab4bde1a7aee0f693fd008e86b4b29f606d1ef94f3  lib/core/revision.py
 d2eb8e4b05ac93551272b3d4abfaf5b9f2d3ac92499a7704c16ed0b4f200db38  lib/core/session.py
-aa26477fcb7db7621c29719bd69c8aa71c18d813a7636344e4baa2bfb0aac04b  lib/core/settings.py
+d427603d8f6127013c3731eb364dfb0cc3fad15b2811125f823df77dea868357  lib/core/settings.py
 1c5eab9494eb969bc9ce118a2ea6954690c6851cbe54c18373c723b99734bf09  lib/core/shell.py
 4eea6dcf023e41e3c64b210cb5c2efc7ca893b727f5e49d9c924f076bb224053  lib/core/subprocessng.py
 cdd352e1331c6b535e780f6edea79465cb55af53aa2114dcea0e8bf382e56d1a  lib/core/target.py
 6cf11d8b00fa761046686437fe90565e708809f793e88a3f02527d0e49c4d2a8  lib/core/testing.py
-1ba2ba8d39c5f655f45c7454b22870f1884ae7aa36e401e3df1a9ed4de691e3d  lib/core/threads.py
+2a179b7601026a8da092271b30ad353cdb6decd658e2614fa51983aaf6dd80e7  lib/core/threads.py
 6f61e7946e368ee1450c301aaf5a26381a8ae31fc8bffa28afc9383e8b1fbc3f  lib/core/unescaper.py
 f7245b99c17ef88cd9a626ca09c0882a5e172bb10a38a5dec9d08da6c8e2d076  lib/core/update.py
 cba481f8c79f4a75bd147b9eb5a1e6e61d70422fceadd12494b1dbaa4f1d27f4  lib/core/wordlist.py
@@ -605,7 +605,7 @@ fd2084a132bf180dad5359e16dac8a29a73ebfd267f7c9423c814e7853060874  thirdparty/col
 4f4b2df6de9c0a8582150c59de2eb665b75548e5a57843fb6d504671ee6e4df3  thirdparty/fcrypt/fcrypt.py
 6a70ddcae455a3876a0f43b0850a19e2d9586d43f7b913dc1ffdf87e87d4bd3f  thirdparty/fcrypt/__init__.py
 dbd1639f97279c76b07c03950e7eb61ed531af542a1bdbe23e83cb2181584fd9  thirdparty/identywaf/data.json
-5aa308d6173ad9e2a5006a719fdbfe8c20d7e14b6d70c04045b935e44caa96d0  thirdparty/identywaf/identYwaf.py
+e5c0b59577c30bb44c781d2f129580eaa003e46dcc4f307f08bc7f15e1555a2e  thirdparty/identywaf/identYwaf.py
 edf23e7105539d700a1ae1bc52436e57e019b345a7d0227e4d85b6353ef535fa  thirdparty/identywaf/__init__.py
 d846fdc47a11a58da9e463a948200f69265181f3dbc38148bfe4141fade10347  thirdparty/identywaf/LICENSE
 e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855  thirdparty/__init__.py
diff --git a/lib/core/settings.py b/lib/core/settings.py
index 89f96efd704..5bce0b32035 100644
--- a/lib/core/settings.py
+++ b/lib/core/settings.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 from thirdparty import six
 
 # sqlmap version (<major>.<minor>.<month>.<monthly commit>)
-VERSION = "1.9.8.2"
+VERSION = "1.9.8.4"
 TYPE = "dev" if VERSION.count('.') > 2 and VERSION.split('.')[-1] != '0' else "stable"
 TYPE_COLORS = {"dev": 33, "stable": 90, "pip": 34}
 VERSION_STRING = "sqlmap/%s#%s" % ('.'.join(VERSION.split('.')[:-1]) if VERSION.count('.') > 2 and VERSION.split('.')[-1] == '0' else VERSION, TYPE)
diff --git a/lib/core/threads.py b/lib/core/threads.py
index 09dcad23d63..57411b03a78 100644
--- a/lib/core/threads.py
+++ b/lib/core/threads.py
@@ -166,8 +166,7 @@ def _threadFunction():
                 _threadFunction()
             except (SqlmapUserQuitException, SqlmapSkipTargetException):
                 pass
-            finally:
-                return
+            return
 
         kb.multiThreadMode = True
 
diff --git a/thirdparty/identywaf/identYwaf.py b/thirdparty/identywaf/identYwaf.py
index 0b70d1f4102..b67fe8e8edc 100755
--- a/thirdparty/identywaf/identYwaf.py
+++ b/thirdparty/identywaf/identYwaf.py
@@ -63,11 +63,11 @@
 VERSION = "1.0.131"
 BANNER = r"""
                                    ` __ __ `
- ____  ___      ___  ____   ______ `|  T  T` __    __   ____  _____ 
+ ____  ___      ___  ____   ______ `|  T  T` __    __   ____  _____
 l    j|   \    /  _]|    \ |      T`|  |  |`|  T__T  T /    T|   __|
  |  T |    \  /  [_ |  _  Yl_j  l_j`|  ~  |`|  |  |  |Y  o  ||  l_
  |  | |  D  YY    _]|  |  |  |  |  `|___  |`|  |  |  ||     ||   _|
- j  l |     ||   [_ |  |  |  |  |  `|     !` \      / |  |  ||  ] 
+ j  l |     ||   [_ |  |  |  |  |  `|     !` \      / |  |  ||  ]
 |____jl_____jl_____jl__j__j  l__j  `l____/ `  \_/\_/  l__j__jl__j  (%s)%s""".strip("\n") % (VERSION, "\n")
 
 RAW, TEXT, HTTPCODE, SERVER, TITLE, HTML, URL = xrange(7)
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ def load_data():
     global WAF_RECOGNITION_REGEX
 
     if os.path.isfile(DATA_JSON_FILE):
-        with codecs.open(DATA_JSON_FILE, "rb", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        with open(DATA_JSON_FILE, "r") as f:
             DATA_JSON.update(json.load(f))
 
         WAF_RECOGNITION_REGEX = ""
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ def init():
         if os.path.isfile(options.proxy_file):
             print(colorize("[o] loading proxy list..."))
 
-            with codecs.open(options.proxy_file, "rb", encoding="utf8") as f:
+            with open(options.proxy_file, "r") as f:
                 proxies.extend(re.sub(r"\s.*", "", _.strip()) for _ in f.read().strip().split('\n') if _.startswith("http"))
                 random.shuffle(proxies)
         else: