diff --git a/.github/workflows/maven-deploy.yaml b/.github/workflows/maven-deploy.yaml
index 961a4dab5..eb7e66d9d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/maven-deploy.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/maven-deploy.yaml
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ name: Maven Deploy
 
 on:
   push:
-    branches:
-      - main
     tags:
       - 'v*.*.*'
 
@@ -14,45 +12,60 @@ jobs:
   build:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     env:
+      SONATYPE_USER: ${{secrets.SONATYPE_USER}}
+      SONATYPE_PASSWORD: ${{secrets.SONATYPE_PASSWORD}}
       GPG_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
       GPG_KEY_NAME: ${{secrets.GPG_KEY_NAME}}
       GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${{secrets.GPG_PASSPHRASE}}
+      MAVEN_USERNAME: ${ SONATYPE_USER }
+      MAVEN_CENTRAL_TOKEN: ${ SONATYPE_PASSWORD }
+      MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${ GPG_PASSPHRASE }
+      MAVEN_OPTS: "--add-opens=java.base/java.util=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.base/java.lang.reflect=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.base/java.text=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.desktop/java.awt.font=ALL-UNNAMED"
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
-      - name: Set up JDK 11
+
+      - name: 'Configure gpg signing'
+        env:
+          GPG_KEY: ${{ secrets.GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
+          GPG_KEY_NAME: ${{ secrets.GPG_KEY_NAME }}
+          GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
+        run: |
+          # https://github.com/keybase/keybase-issues/issues/2798
+          export GPG_TTY=$(tty)
+          # Import gpg keys and warm the passphrase to avoid the gpg
+          # passphrase prompt when initating a deploy
+          # `--pinentry-mode=loopback` could be needed to ensure we
+          # suppress the gpg prompt
+          echo $GPG_KEY | base64 --decode > signing-key
+          gpg --passphrase $GPG_PASSPHRASE --batch --import signing-key
+          shred signing-key
+          
+      - name: Configure GIT
+        run: |
+          git config --global user.email "envoy-bot@users.noreply.github.com" 
+          git config --global user.name "envoy-bot"
+
+      - name: Set up JDK
         uses: actions/setup-java@v3
         with:
           distribution: 'temurin'
           java-version: '17'
-          gpg-private-key: ${{ env.GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
-          gpg-passphrase: ${{ env.GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
+          server-id: sonatype-nexus-staging # Value of the distributionManagement/repository/id field of the pom.xml
+          server-username: ${ env.SONATYPE_USER } # env variable for username in deploy
+          server-password: ${ env.SONATYPE_PASSWORD } # env variable for token in deploy
+          gpg-private-key: ${{ secrets.GPG_SECRET_KEY }} # Value of the GPG private key to import - without any modification
+          gpg-passphrase: ${ env.GPG_PASSPHRASE }  # env variable for GPG private key passphrase
 
-      - name: Build with Maven
+      - name: Publish to Maven Packages Apache Maven
         working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}/java
-        run: mvn -B package --file pom.xml
-
-      - name: Publish to GitHub Packages Apache Maven
-        working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}/java
-        run: mvn deploy -s settings.xml
+        run: |
+          mvn -B -s settings.xml clean release:prepare \
+          -Darguments="-s settings.xml" \
+          -DreleaseVersion=${{ github.ref_name }} \
+          -DdevelopmentVersion=${{ github.ref_name }}-SNAPSHOT \
+          -DscmCommentPrefix="java release: "
         env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }} # GITHUB_TOKEN is the default env for the password
-
-#      - name: Set up Apache Maven Central
-#        uses: actions/setup-java@v3
-#        with: # running setup-java again overwrites the settings.xml
-#          distribution: 'temurin'
-#          java-version: '11'
-#          server-id: sonatype-nexus-snapshots # Value of the distributionManagement/repository/id field of the pom.xml
-#          server-username: ${{ env.SONATYPE_USER }} # env variable for username in deploy
-#          server-password: ${{ env.SONATYPE_PASSWORD }} # env variable for token in deploy
-#          gpg-private-key: ${{ env.GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }} # Value of the GPG private key to import
-#          gpg-passphrase: ${{ env.GPG_PASSPHRASE }} # env variable for GPG private key passphrase
-#
-#      - name: Publish to Apache Maven Central
-#        working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}/java
-#        run: mvn deploy -s settings.xml
-#        env:
-#          MAVEN_USERNAME: ${{ env.SONATYPE_USER }}
-#          MAVEN_CENTRAL_TOKEN: ${{ env.SONATYPE_PASSWORD }}
-#          MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${{ env.GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
+          MAVEN_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.SONATYPE_USER }}
+          MAVEN_CENTRAL_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SONATYPE_PASSWORD }}
+          MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/maven-publish.yaml b/.github/workflows/maven-publish.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 920092ade..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/maven-publish.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,109 +0,0 @@
-# This workflow will build a package using Maven and then publish it to GitHub packages when a release is created
-## For more information see: https://github.com/actions/setup-java/blob/main/docs/advanced-usage.md#apache-maven-with-a-settings-path
-
-name: Maven Deploy
-
-on:
-  push:
-    tags:
-      - 'v*.*.*'
-
-jobs:
-  deploy:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    env:
-      SONATYPE_USER: ${{secrets.SONATYPE_USER}}
-      SONATYPE_PASSWORD: ${{secrets.SONATYPE_PASSWORD}}
-      GPG_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
-      GPG_KEY_NAME: ${{secrets.GPG_KEY_NAME}}
-      GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${{secrets.GPG_PASSPHRASE}}
-      MAVEN_USERNAME: ${ SONATYPE_USER }
-      MAVEN_CENTRAL_TOKEN: ${ SONATYPE_PASSWORD }
-      MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${ GPG_PASSPHRASE }
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-      packages: write
-
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
-        with:
-          ref: ${{ github.ref_name }}
-      - name: Set up JDK 17
-        uses: actions/setup-java@v3
-        with:
-          java-version: "17"
-          distribution: "temurin"
-          server-id: sonatype-nexus-snapshots
-          server-username: ${{ env.SONATYPE_USER }}
-          server-password: ${{ env.SONATYPE_PASSWORD }}
-          gpg-private-key: ${{ env.GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}
-          gpg-passphrase: ${{ env.GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
-
-      - name: Configure Git User
-        run: |
-          git config --global user.email "envoy-bot@users.noreply.github.com"
-          git config --global user.name "envoy-bot"
-
-      - name: Install with Maven
-        working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}/java
-        run: mvn -B install
-
-      - name: 'Configure gpg signing'
-        env:
-          GPG_KEY: ${{ secrets.gpg_key }}
-          GPG_KEY_NAME: ${{ secrets.gpg_key_name }}
-          GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.gpg_passphrase }}
-        run: |
-          # https://github.com/keybase/keybase-issues/issues/2798
-          export GPG_TTY=$(tty)
-          # Import gpg keys and warm the passphrase to avoid the gpg
-          # passphrase prompt when initating a deploy
-          # `--pinentry-mode=loopback` could be needed to ensure we
-          # suppress the gpg prompt
-          echo $GPG_KEY | base64 --decode > signing-key
-          gpg --passphrase $GPG_PASSPHRASE --batch --import signing-key
-          shred signing-key
-          
-          find . -type f \( -iname "pom.xml" -o -iname "*.jar" \) -print0 | while read -d $'\0' file
-          do
-            gpg --pinentry-mode=loopback --passphrase $GPG_PASSPHRASE -ab $file
-          done
-
-      - name: 'Release to sonatype repository'
-        working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}/java
-        env:
-          READWRITE_USER: ${{ secrets.SONATYPE_USER }}
-          READWRITE_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.SONATYPE_PASSWORD }}
-          ENVOY_PROXY_PROFILE_ID: ${{ secrets.ENVOY_PROXY_PROFILE_ID }}
-        run: |
-          python sonatype_nexus_upload.py \
-            --profile_id=$ENVOY_PROXY_PROFILE_ID \
-            --version=${{ github.ref_name }} \
-            --files \
-              ./pgv-test-coverage-report/pom.xml \
-              ./pgv-java-grpc/pom.xml \
-              ./pom.xml \
-              ./pgv-java-validation/pom.xml \
-              ./pgv-artifacts/pom.xml \
-              ./pgv-java-stub/pom.xml \
-              ./pgv-test-coverage-report/target/pgv-test-coverage-report-0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT.jar \
-              ./pgv-java-grpc/target/pgv-java-grpc-0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT.jar \
-              ./pgv-java-grpc/target/pgv-java-grpc-0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT-sources.jar \
-              ./pgv-java-validation/target/pgv-java-validation-0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT-sources.jar \
-              ./pgv-java-validation/target/pgv-java-validation-0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT.jar \
-              ./pgv-java-stub/target/pgv-java-stub-0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT.jar \
-              ./pgv-java-stub/target/pgv-java-stub-0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT-sources.jar \
-            --signed_files \
-              ./pgv-test-coverage-report/pom.xml.asc \
-              ./pgv-java-grpc/pom.xml.asc \
-              ./pom.xml.asc \
-              ./pgv-java-validation/pom.xml.asc \
-              ./pgv-artifacts/pom.xml.asc \
-              ./pgv-java-stub/pom.xml.asc \
-              ./pgv-test-coverage-report/target/pgv-test-coverage-report-0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT.jar.asc \
-              ./pgv-java-grpc/target/pgv-java-grpc-0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT.jar.asc \
-              ./pgv-java-grpc/target/pgv-java-grpc-0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT-sources.jar.asc \
-              ./pgv-java-validation/target/pgv-java-validation-0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT.jar.asc \
-              ./pgv-java-validation/target/pgv-java-validation-0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT-sources.jar.asc \
-              ./pgv-java-stub/target/pgv-java-stub-0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT.jar.asc \
-              ./pgv-java-stub/target/pgv-java-stub-0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT-sources.jar.asc
diff --git a/java/pgv-artifacts/pom.xml b/java/pgv-artifacts/pom.xml
index d4c11597e..8884b2d96 100644
--- a/java/pgv-artifacts/pom.xml
+++ b/java/pgv-artifacts/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
     <parent>
         <artifactId>pgv-java</artifactId>
         <groupId>io.envoyproxy.protoc-gen-validate</groupId>
-        <version>0.6.9-rc.0</version>
+        <version>0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
     </parent>
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 
diff --git a/java/pgv-java-grpc/pom.xml b/java/pgv-java-grpc/pom.xml
index d05d60ba4..3e0947642 100644
--- a/java/pgv-java-grpc/pom.xml
+++ b/java/pgv-java-grpc/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
     <parent>
         <artifactId>pgv-java</artifactId>
         <groupId>io.envoyproxy.protoc-gen-validate</groupId>
-        <version>0.6.9-rc.0</version>
+        <version>0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
     </parent>
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 
diff --git a/java/pgv-java-stub/pom.xml b/java/pgv-java-stub/pom.xml
index ab796c375..6bc565747 100644
--- a/java/pgv-java-stub/pom.xml
+++ b/java/pgv-java-stub/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
     <parent>
         <artifactId>pgv-java</artifactId>
         <groupId>io.envoyproxy.protoc-gen-validate</groupId>
-        <version>0.6.9-rc.0</version>
+        <version>0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
     </parent>
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 
diff --git a/java/pgv-java-validation/pom.xml b/java/pgv-java-validation/pom.xml
index cfc000c99..abb1f672a 100644
--- a/java/pgv-java-validation/pom.xml
+++ b/java/pgv-java-validation/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
     <parent>
         <artifactId>pgv-java</artifactId>
         <groupId>io.envoyproxy.protoc-gen-validate</groupId>
-        <version>0.6.9-rc.0</version>
+        <version>0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
     </parent>
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 
diff --git a/java/pgv-test-coverage-report/pom.xml b/java/pgv-test-coverage-report/pom.xml
index f088c98f6..f4ef0f8fd 100644
--- a/java/pgv-test-coverage-report/pom.xml
+++ b/java/pgv-test-coverage-report/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
     <parent>
         <artifactId>pgv-java</artifactId>
         <groupId>io.envoyproxy.protoc-gen-validate</groupId>
-        <version>0.6.9-rc.0</version>
+        <version>0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
     </parent>
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 
diff --git a/java/pom.xml b/java/pom.xml
index c7a2d3b63..fe8e96bec 100644
--- a/java/pom.xml
+++ b/java/pom.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
     <groupId>io.envoyproxy.protoc-gen-validate</groupId>
     <artifactId>pgv-java</artifactId>
-    <version>0.6.9-rc.0</version>
+    <version>0.6.9-rc.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
     <modules>
         <module>pgv-java-stub</module>
         <module>pgv-java-validation</module>
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@
         <url>https://github.com/envoyproxy/protoc-gen-validate</url>
         <connection>scm:git:git@github.com:lyft/protoc-gen-validate.git</connection>
         <developerConnection>scm:git:git@github.com:lyft/protoc-gen-validate.git</developerConnection>
-      <tag>v0.6.9-rc.0-java</tag>
+      <tag>HEAD</tag>
   </scm>
 
     <distributionManagement>