diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 7439fb415b..5c10f5b5e6 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Package: plotly
 Title: Create Interactive Web Graphics via Plotly's JavaScript Graphing Library
-Version: 2.4.3
+Version: 2.4.4
 Authors@R: c(person("Carson", "Sievert", role = c("aut", "cre"),
     email = "cpsievert1@gmail.com"),
     person("Chris", "Parmer", role = c("aut", "cph"),
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 61a7183d92..7280cf54c7 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2.4.4 -- 13 Feb 2015
+
+as.widget() now returns htmlwidget objects untouched. See #449.
+
 2.4.3 -- 11 Feb 2015
 
 Ensure that we always return HTTPS links. Fixes #455
diff --git a/R/print.R b/R/print.R
index 5de936aefe..cfbddab8d9 100644
--- a/R/print.R
+++ b/R/print.R
@@ -31,7 +31,9 @@ knit_print.plotly <- function(x, options, ...) {
 #' htmlwidgets::saveWidget(as.widget(p), "index.html")
 #' }
 #' 
+
 as.widget <- function(x, ...) {
+  if (inherits(x, "htmlwidget")) return(x)
   p <- plotly_build(x)
   # set some margin defaults if none are provided
   p$layout$margin <- modifyList(