diff --git a/PYTHON-MANIFEST.in b/PYTHON-MANIFEST.in
index 2f5700d11a0..3c46d611702 100644
--- a/PYTHON-MANIFEST.in
+++ b/PYTHON-MANIFEST.in
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ graft include/grpc
 graft third_party/boringssl
 graft third_party/zlib
 include src/python/grpcio/commands.py
+include src/python/grpcio/grpc_version.py
 include src/python/grpcio/grpc_core_dependencies.py
 include src/python/grpcio/support.py
 include src/python/grpcio/README.rst
diff --git a/grpc.gemspec b/grpc.gemspec
index e990948edf6..5955bdaede6 100755
--- a/grpc.gemspec
+++ b/grpc.gemspec
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.require_paths = %w( src/ruby/bin src/ruby/lib src/ruby/pb )
   s.platform      = Gem::Platform::RUBY
 
-  s.add_dependency 'google-protobuf', '~> 3.0.0alpha.1.1'
+  s.add_dependency 'google-protobuf', '~> 3.0.0.alpha.5.0.2'
   s.add_dependency 'googleauth',      '~> 0.5.1'
 
   s.add_development_dependency 'bundler',            '~> 1.9'
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.add_development_dependency 'simplecov',          '~> 0.9'
   s.add_development_dependency 'rake',               '~> 10.4'
   s.add_development_dependency 'rake-compiler',      '~> 0.9'
-  s.add_development_dependency 'rake-compiler-dock', '~> 0.5'
+  s.add_development_dependency 'rake-compiler-dock', '~> 0.5.1'
   s.add_development_dependency 'rspec',              '~> 3.2'
   s.add_development_dependency 'rubocop',            '~> 0.30.0'
   s.add_development_dependency 'signet',             '~> 0.7.0'
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 9d002744495..a1cc88cfe73 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@ enum34>=1.0.4
 futures>=2.2.0
 cython>=0.23
 coverage>=4.0
+six>=1.10
diff --git a/src/ruby/lib/grpc/version.rb b/src/ruby/lib/grpc/version.rb
index 9cbd36a355e..ef0876159d7 100644
--- a/src/ruby/lib/grpc/version.rb
+++ b/src/ruby/lib/grpc/version.rb
@@ -29,5 +29,5 @@
 
 # GRPC contains the General RPC module.
 module GRPC
-  VERSION = '0.14.0-dev'
+  VERSION = '0.14.0.dev'
 end
diff --git a/templates/grpc.gemspec.template b/templates/grpc.gemspec.template
index c4987a6725f..6cc3e964a3f 100644
--- a/templates/grpc.gemspec.template
+++ b/templates/grpc.gemspec.template
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
     s.require_paths = %w( src/ruby/bin src/ruby/lib src/ruby/pb )
     s.platform      = Gem::Platform::RUBY
 
-    s.add_dependency 'google-protobuf', '~> 3.0.0alpha.1.1'
+    s.add_dependency 'google-protobuf', '~> 3.0.0.alpha.5.0.2'
     s.add_dependency 'googleauth',      '~> 0.5.1'
 
     s.add_development_dependency 'bundler',            '~> 1.9'
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
     s.add_development_dependency 'simplecov',          '~> 0.9'
     s.add_development_dependency 'rake',               '~> 10.4'
     s.add_development_dependency 'rake-compiler',      '~> 0.9'
-    s.add_development_dependency 'rake-compiler-dock', '~> 0.5'
+    s.add_development_dependency 'rake-compiler-dock', '~> 0.5.1'
     s.add_development_dependency 'rspec',              '~> 3.2'
     s.add_development_dependency 'rubocop',            '~> 0.30.0'
     s.add_development_dependency 'signet',             '~> 0.7.0'
diff --git a/templates/src/ruby/lib/grpc/version.rb.template b/templates/src/ruby/lib/grpc/version.rb.template
index a47d2d85489..6488614aed9 100644
--- a/templates/src/ruby/lib/grpc/version.rb.template
+++ b/templates/src/ruby/lib/grpc/version.rb.template
@@ -31,5 +31,5 @@
 
   # GRPC contains the General RPC module.
   module GRPC
-    VERSION = '${settings.ruby_version}'
+    VERSION = '${settings.ruby_version.ruby()}'
   end
diff --git a/test/distrib/csharp/run_distrib_test.sh b/test/distrib/csharp/run_distrib_test.sh
index 8ddb4c4bffe..1de62041b3f 100755
--- a/test/distrib/csharp/run_distrib_test.sh
+++ b/test/distrib/csharp/run_distrib_test.sh
@@ -34,8 +34,9 @@ cd $(dirname $0)
 
 unzip -o "$EXTERNAL_GIT_ROOT/input_artifacts/csharp_nugets.zip" -d TestNugetFeed
 
-# TODO(jtattermusch): replace the version number
-./update_version.sh 0.13.0
+# Extract the version number from Grpc nuget package name.
+CSHARP_VERSION=$(ls TestNugetFeed | grep '^Grpc\.[0-9].*\.nupkg$' | sed s/^Grpc\.// | sed s/\.nupkg$//)
+./update_version.sh $CSHARP_VERSION
 
 nuget restore
 
diff --git a/test/distrib/node/run_distrib_test.sh b/test/distrib/node/run_distrib_test.sh
index ac9e7d70907..99a51f01f76 100755
--- a/test/distrib/node/run_distrib_test.sh
+++ b/test/distrib/node/run_distrib_test.sh
@@ -28,15 +28,12 @@
 # (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
 # OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
+NODE_VERSION=$1
+source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
 set -ex
 
 cd $(dirname $0)
 
-NODE_VERSION="$1"
-
-# make sure nvm is available
-source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh || true
-
 nvm install $NODE_VERSION
 
 npm install -g node-static
diff --git a/test/distrib/python/run_distrib_test.sh b/test/distrib/python/run_distrib_test.sh
index 08856ad388a..8fd7ffb54c8 100755
--- a/test/distrib/python/run_distrib_test.sh
+++ b/test/distrib/python/run_distrib_test.sh
@@ -32,11 +32,11 @@ set -ex
 
 cd $(dirname $0)
 
-# TODO(jtattermusch): replace the version number
-SDIST_ARCHIVE="$EXTERNAL_GIT_ROOT/input_artifacts/grpcio-0.12.0b8.tar.gz"
+# Pick up the source dist archive whatever its version is
+SDIST_ARCHIVE=$EXTERNAL_GIT_ROOT/input_artifacts/grpcio-*.tar.gz
 BDIST_DIR="file://$EXTERNAL_GIT_ROOT/input_artifacts"
 
-if [ ! -f "${SDIST_ARCHIVE}" ]
+if [ ! -f ${SDIST_ARCHIVE} ]
 then
   echo "Archive ${SDIST_ARCHIVE} does not exist."
   exit 1
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ $PIP install --upgrade six
 
 GRPC_PYTHON_BINARIES_REPOSITORY="${BDIST_DIR}" \
     $PIP install \
-    "${SDIST_ARCHIVE}"
+    ${SDIST_ARCHIVE}
 
 $PYTHON distribtest.py
 
diff --git a/third_party/rake-compiler-dock/Dockerfile b/third_party/rake-compiler-dock/Dockerfile
index a8f5b8a1165..c7a6657246c 100644
--- a/third_party/rake-compiler-dock/Dockerfile
+++ b/third_party/rake-compiler-dock/Dockerfile
@@ -27,46 +27,75 @@ RUN gpg --keyserver hkp://keys.gnupg.net --recv-keys D39DC0E3 && \
 
 # Regenerate the following using build.sh if the build folder changes.
 RUN echo \
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+7VQijVDleQWrPAyXqOWLsBYedHVuQu9lkm41ojOTtLqR7m1/7jIqN9ihgjlLS1+sar+gvaMTWe3t\
+bs2+r1tAjCq5LEIfP4v9ZIoRkWYD+qUotlazji5SHE5KFPZEefSS7xYMARnFL3G0BPCUZ1Hj7k2B\
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+gZ66qGArI2gfv3357Oz5m5NXdwy7YbvfMOrw6PTg5PjtGY4kK5I5Wd4PldVO3EgmGE2rYzUs2kHx\
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+y8w85HV/1npycKhT7c7Szltpzneabj1+9ezFEaxk5dc3P/51Jd//SgSJMxUsSb5BjvuO97+2bfdW\
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+NWe/NM6ZYXGG7qN2lYnGWAR63fPliLFuXF1isbpsSrYsjZNwrQ35H61k9h9DOPatvL+77/+026v3\
+/5qtxtr/e5CC9p9sP9rMoWEM0FQn9HrBHEBp88XxIV3QfXHy5t3bkjHWt6jNBOpoAerDeMyNVHKx\
+PNpMsfZO116AmIxrFFjQpBK29OdTwRzTwNOjE7TNdIFjf7NCJMDe3h6U9C3jf2TdVSOMwJSgTyl9\
+Di1HowiG5pfq1lIzngoac1qgwRhZcmVq5NlN7Z+enf7sHL1+v1/nytU3X4kC4ebdGM+VNn9cu6br\
+si7rsi7r8qcs/w8AInVFAFAAAA==\
 | base64 -d | tar xzC /tmp
 
 # Import patch files for ruby and gems
@@ -86,7 +115,7 @@ RUN bash -c " \
 # do not generate documentation for gems
 RUN echo "gem: --no-ri --no-rdoc" >> ~/.gemrc && \
     bash -c " \
-        rvm all do gem install bundler rake-compiler hoe mini_portile rubygems-tasks json && \
+        rvm all do gem install bundler rake-compiler hoe mini_portile rubygems-tasks && \
         rvm 2.3.0 do gem install mini_portile2 && \
         find /usr/local/rvm -type d -print0 | sudo xargs -0 chmod g+sw "
 
@@ -96,7 +125,7 @@ RUN sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/rake-compiler && \
     ln -s /usr/local/rake-compiler ~/.rake-compiler
 
 # Patch rake-compiler to avoid build of ruby extensions
-RUN cd /usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-2.3.0/gems/rake-compiler-0.9.5 && patch -p1 < /home/rvm/patches/rake-compiler-0.9.5/without-exts.diff ; \
+RUN cd /usr/local/rvm/gems/ruby-2.3.0/gems/rake-compiler-0.9.5 && git apply /home/rvm/patches/rake-compiler-0.9.5/*.diff ; \
     true
 
 RUN bash -c "rvm use 2.3.0 --default && \
@@ -150,9 +179,12 @@ RUN mv /opt/mingw/mingw32/bin/i686-w64-mingw32-strip /opt/mingw/mingw32/bin/i686
 RUN find / -name rbconfig.rb | while read f ; do sed -i 's/0x0501/0x0600/' $f ; done
 RUN find / -name win32.h | while read f ; do sed -i 's/gettimeofday/rb_gettimeofday/' $f ; done
 RUN sed -i 's/defined.__MINGW64__.$/1/' /usr/local/rake-compiler/ruby/i686-w64-mingw32/ruby-2.0.0-p645/include/ruby-2.0.0/ruby/win32.h
-RUN find / -name libwinpthread.dll.a | while read f ; do rm $f ; done
-RUN find / -name libwinpthread-1.dll | while read f ; do rm $f ; done
+RUN find / -name libwinpthread.dll.a | xargs rm
+RUN find / -name libwinpthread-1.dll | xargs rm
 RUN find / -name *msvcrt-ruby*.dll.a | while read f ; do n=`echo $f | sed s/.dll//` ; mv $f $n ; done
+RUN find /usr/local/rake-compiler/ruby -name libruby.so | xargs rm
+RUN find /usr/local/rake-compiler/ruby -name libruby-static.a | while read f ; do ar t $f | xargs ar d $f ; done
+RUN find /usr/local/rake-compiler/ruby -name libruby-static.a | while read f ; do mv $f `echo $f | sed s/-static//` ; done
 
 # Install SIGINT forwarder
 RUN cp /tmp/build/sigfw.c /root/
diff --git a/third_party/rake-compiler-dock/build.sh b/third_party/rake-compiler-dock/build.sh
index 22ffd18cacf..ca01fa6d4db 100755
--- a/third_party/rake-compiler-dock/build.sh
+++ b/third_party/rake-compiler-dock/build.sh
@@ -4,4 +4,4 @@
 
 echo 'RUN echo \\'
 tar cz build | base64 | sed 's/$/\\/'
-echo '| base64 -d | tar xzC /'
+echo '| base64 -d | tar xzC /tmp'
diff --git a/third_party/rake-compiler-dock/build/patches/rake-compiler-0.9.5/compat-with-bundler.diff b/third_party/rake-compiler-dock/build/patches/rake-compiler-0.9.5/compat-with-bundler.diff
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ea22bd928ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/third_party/rake-compiler-dock/build/patches/rake-compiler-0.9.5/compat-with-bundler.diff
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+From 41f834449fc4323b2f995e8715aa5842d9fd9334 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: Lars Kanis <lars@greiz-reinsdorf.de>
+Date: Sat, 30 Jan 2016 08:08:07 +0100
+Subject: [PATCH] Change the fake mechanism to be compatible with bundler.
+
+The previous fake mechanism worked by hooking onto the
+"require 'rbconfig'" call.
+This is problematic because bundler internally requires rbconfig, but doesn't
+work corretly in a faked environment.
+It then fails to load gems that are also part of the standard library, like
+json and rdoc.
+This results in issues like https://github.com/rake-compiler/rake-compiler-dock/issues/8
+
+The fake mechanism is now changed to hook onto the "require 'mkrb'" call,
+which is typically part of the extconf file, and it is where the faked platform
+values are actually needed.
+That way it is loaded after bundler/setup, so that the library paths are
+set according to the Gemfile.lock, to the native Linux libraries, before
+the fake environment is active.
+
+Please note, that the build directory of a given gem needs to be cleared,
+in order to get updated fake files. So do a "rm tmp pkg -rf".
+---
+ lib/rake/extensiontask.rb | 35 ++++++++++++++---------------------
+ 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 21 deletions(-)
+
+diff --git a/lib/rake/extensiontask.rb b/lib/rake/extensiontask.rb
+index 030af96..f914919 100644
+--- a/lib/rake/extensiontask.rb
++++ b/lib/rake/extensiontask.rb
+@@ -169,8 +169,8 @@ Java extension should be preferred.
+         # now add the extconf script
+         cmd << abs_extconf.relative_path_from(abs_tmp_path)
+ 
+-        # rbconfig.rb will be present if we are cross compiling
+-        if t.prerequisites.include?("#{tmp_path}/rbconfig.rb") then
++        # fake.rb will be present if we are cross compiling
++        if t.prerequisites.include?("#{tmp_path}/fake.rb") then
+           options.push(*cross_config_options(platf))
+         end
+ 
+@@ -365,39 +365,30 @@ Java extension should be preferred.
+       # define compilation tasks for cross platform!
+       define_compile_tasks(for_platform, ruby_ver)
+ 
+-      # chain fake.rb, rbconfig.rb and mkmf.rb to Makefile generation
++      # chain fake.rb and mkmf.rb to Makefile generation
+       file "#{tmp_path}/Makefile" => ["#{tmp_path}/fake.rb",
+-                                      "#{tmp_path}/rbconfig.rb",
+                                       "#{tmp_path}/mkmf.rb"]
+ 
+-      # copy the file from the cross-ruby location
+-      file "#{tmp_path}/rbconfig.rb" => [rbconfig_file] do |t|
++      # copy the rbconfig from the cross-ruby location and
++      # genearte fake.rb for different ruby versions
++      file "#{tmp_path}/fake.rb" => [rbconfig_file] do |t|
+         File.open(t.name, 'w') do |f|
+-          f.write "require 'fake.rb'\n\n"
++          f.write fake_rb(for_platform, ruby_ver)
+           f.write File.read(t.prerequisites.first)
+         end
+       end
+ 
+       # copy mkmf from cross-ruby location
+       file "#{tmp_path}/mkmf.rb" => [mkmf_file] do |t|
+-        cp t.prerequisites.first, t.name
+-        if ruby_ver < "1.9" && "1.9" <= RUBY_VERSION
+-          File.open(t.name, 'r+t') do |f|
+-            content = f.read
++        File.open(t.name, 'w') do |f|
++          content = File.read(t.prerequisites.first)
++          content.sub!(/^(require ')rbconfig(')$/, '\\1fake\\2')
++          if ruby_ver < "1.9" && "1.9" <= RUBY_VERSION
+             content.sub!(/^(      break )\*(defaults)$/, '\\1\\2.first')
+             content.sub!(/^(    return )\*(defaults)$/, '\\1\\2.first')
+             content.sub!(/^(  mfile\.)print( configuration\(srcprefix\))$/, '\\1puts\\2')
+-            f.rewind
+-            f.write content
+-            f.truncate(f.tell)
+           end
+-        end
+-      end
+-
+-      # genearte fake.rb for different ruby versions
+-      file "#{tmp_path}/fake.rb" do |t|
+-        File.open(t.name, 'w') do |f|
+-          f.write fake_rb(for_platform, ruby_ver)
++          f.write content
+         end
+       end
+ 
+@@ -495,8 +486,10 @@ Java extension should be preferred.
+         # "cannot load such file -- win32/resolv" when it is required later on.
+         # See also: https://github.com/tjschuck/rake-compiler-dev-box/issues/5
+         require 'resolv'
++        require 'rbconfig'
+ 
+         class Object
++          remove_const :RbConfig
+           remove_const :RUBY_PLATFORM
+           remove_const :RUBY_VERSION
+           remove_const :RUBY_DESCRIPTION if defined?(RUBY_DESCRIPTION)
+-- 
+2.5.0.windows.1
+
diff --git a/tools/buildgen/plugins/expand_version.py b/tools/buildgen/plugins/expand_version.py
index 4600c3224eb..b55e1b15ff8 100755
--- a/tools/buildgen/plugins/expand_version.py
+++ b/tools/buildgen/plugins/expand_version.py
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ LANGUAGES = [
 class Version:
 
   def __init__(self, s):
+    self.tag = None
     if '-' in s:
       s, self.tag = s.split('-')
     self.major, self.minor, self.patch = [int(x) for x in s.split('.')]
@@ -76,6 +77,13 @@ class Version:
         raise Exception('Don\'t know how to translate version tag "%s" to pep440' % self.tag)
     return s
 
+  def ruby(self):
+    """Version string in Ruby style"""
+    if self.tag:
+      return '%d.%d.%d.%s' % (self.major, self.minor, self.patch, self.tag)
+    else:
+      return '%d.%d.%d' % (self.major, self.minor, self.patch)
+
 def mako_plugin(dictionary):
   """Expand version numbers:
      - for each language, ensure there's a language_version tag in
diff --git a/tools/jenkins/docker_run.sh b/tools/jenkins/docker_run.sh
index 519dc5cade6..df7b6571d7a 100755
--- a/tools/jenkins/docker_run.sh
+++ b/tools/jenkins/docker_run.sh
@@ -47,8 +47,6 @@ then
   rvm use ruby-2.1
 fi
 
-nvm use 4 || true
-
 cd /var/local/git/grpc
 
 $RUN_COMMAND
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/artifact_targets.py b/tools/run_tests/artifact_targets.py
index b37f968c064..74d2a4859c8 100644
--- a/tools/run_tests/artifact_targets.py
+++ b/tools/run_tests/artifact_targets.py
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ def create_jobspec(name, cmdline, environ=None, shell=False,
           cmdline=cmdline,
           environ=environ,
           shortname='build_artifact.%s' % (name),
-          timeout_seconds=10*60,
+          timeout_seconds=30*60,
           flake_retries=flake_retries,
           timeout_retries=timeout_retries,
           shell=shell)
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/build_artifact_node.sh b/tools/run_tests/build_artifact_node.sh
index ec3fb6462f3..8aeec79d087 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/build_artifact_node.sh
+++ b/tools/run_tests/build_artifact_node.sh
@@ -28,8 +28,12 @@
 # (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
 # OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
+NODE_TARGET_ARCH=$1
+source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
 set -ex
 
+nvm use 4
+
 cd $(dirname $0)/../..
 
 rm -rf build
@@ -42,6 +46,6 @@ node_versions=( 0.10.41 0.12.0 1.0.0 1.1.0 2.0.0 3.0.0 4.0.0 5.0.0 )
 
 for version in ${node_versions[@]}
 do
-  node-pre-gyp configure rebuild package testpackage --target=$version --target_arch=$1
+  node-pre-gyp configure rebuild package testpackage --target=$version --target_arch=$NODE_TARGET_ARCH
   cp -r build/stage/* artifacts/
 done
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/build_package_node.sh b/tools/run_tests/build_package_node.sh
index 13587402647..a8b9448973f 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/build_package_node.sh
+++ b/tools/run_tests/build_package_node.sh
@@ -28,8 +28,11 @@
 # (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
 # OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
+source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
 set -ex
 
+nvm use 4
+
 cd $(dirname $0)/../..
 
 mkdir -p artifacts/