Unfortunately, similarly to iojs 1.0.4 -> 1.1.0 NODE_MODULE_VERSION has been bumped (from 43 to 44) to indicate potential v8 API breakage. Maybe we should keep node 1.8.1 around for those who depend on those binary modules. I also keep node 1.0.4 in my private repository for that reason https://github.com/saper/ports-exp/tree/master/www/iojs42 ~Marcin