diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index ae6469d..f2c08da 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -206,14 +206,14 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Check if release already exists
         id: check
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
         run: |
-          if gh release view "${{ github.ref_name }}" &>/dev/null; then
+          if gh release view "$GITHUB_REF_NAME" &>/dev/null; then
             echo "exists=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           else
             echo "exists=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           fi
-        env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
 
       - name: Validate tag matches source version
         run: |
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
         run: |
-          TAG="${{ github.ref_name }}"
+          TAG="$GITHUB_REF_NAME"
           VERSION="${TAG#v}"
           if gh release view "$TAG" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             echo "::notice::GitHub Release ${TAG} already exists; editing it instead of creating a duplicate."
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
         run: |
-          TAG="${{ github.ref_name }}"
+          TAG="$GITHUB_REF_NAME"
           VERSION="${TAG#v}"
           SAFE_TAG="${VERSION//./\\.}"
 
@@ -454,7 +454,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Summary
         run: |
-          TAG="${{ github.ref_name }}"
+          TAG="$GITHUB_REF_NAME"
           VERSION="${TAG#v}"
           {
             echo "## Release ${VERSION}"
diff --git a/templates/universal/release.yml b/templates/universal/release.yml
index b86749a..fe06560 100644
--- a/templates/universal/release.yml
+++ b/templates/universal/release.yml
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Extract version from tag
         id: version
         run: |
-          TAG="${{ github.ref_name }}"
+          TAG="$GITHUB_REF_NAME"
           VERSION="${TAG#v}"
           echo "tag=$TAG" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           echo "version=$VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"