R10:6cafdee71d2b23e8ec95d1f128b0e11f103491bb adapted pkgbase build for 1.17, but broke Cirrus-CI's use of PKG_FORMAT=tar as quarterly pkg set still uses pkg 1.16. As a result Cirrus-CI pkg and test was disabled in R10:2bfba2a04b05524d72a6190164aa5aaa1d29e337.
Check pkg --version and use the old logic for < 1.17. To be reverted once we no longer encounter pkg 1.16 in cloud images.