diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index c23605432..da4ac01e8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -88,17 +88,19 @@ jobs:
         with:
           java-version: '11'
           distribution: 'adopt'
+          cache: 'maven'
           server-id: ossrh
           server-username: OSSRH_USERNAME
           server-password: OSSRH_PASSWORD
           gpg-private-key: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
-          gpg-passphrase: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
+          gpg-passphrase: MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE # this needs to be an env var
       
       - name: Publish Maven
         run: mvn --batch-mode clean deploy
         env:
           OSSRH_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.OSSRH_USERNAME }}
           OSSRH_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.OSSRH_TOKEN }}
+          MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE }}