diff --git a/consensus/system_contract/consensus.go b/consensus/system_contract/consensus.go
index 444b61d4a8..299577ac14 100644
--- a/consensus/system_contract/consensus.go
+++ b/consensus/system_contract/consensus.go
@@ -37,7 +37,10 @@ var (
 	// that is not part of the local blockchain.
 	errUnknownBlock = errors.New("unknown block")
 
-	// errNonceNotEmpty is returned if a nonce value is non-zero
+	// errInvalidCoinbase is returned if a coinbase value is non-zero
+	errInvalidCoinbase = errors.New("coinbase not empty")
+
+	// errInvalidNonce is returned if a nonce value is non-zero
 	errInvalidNonce = errors.New("nonce not empty nor zero")
 
 	// errMissingSignature is returned if a block's extra-data section doesn't seem
@@ -116,6 +119,10 @@ func (s *SystemContract) verifyHeader(chain consensus.ChainHeaderReader, header
 	if header.Time > uint64(time.Now().Unix()) {
 		return consensus.ErrFutureBlock
 	}
+	// Ensure that the coinbase is zero
+	if header.Coinbase != (common.Address{}) {
+		return errInvalidCoinbase
+	}
 	// Ensure that the nonce is zero
 	if header.Nonce != (types.BlockNonce{}) {
 		return errInvalidNonce
diff --git a/params/version.go b/params/version.go
index b54686ad3e..650b578480 100644
--- a/params/version.go
+++ b/params/version.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import (
 const (
 	VersionMajor = 5         // Major version component of the current release
 	VersionMinor = 8         // Minor version component of the current release
-	VersionPatch = 16        // Patch version component of the current release
+	VersionPatch = 17        // Patch version component of the current release
 	VersionMeta  = "mainnet" // Version metadata to append to the version string
 )