diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-and-publish.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-and-publish.yaml
index b53bdb0..a741e3e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-and-publish.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-and-publish.yaml
@@ -8,12 +8,15 @@ on:
 env:
   java-version: 21
   gradle-version: 8.4
+  gradle-cache: true
+  gradle-cache-read-only: true
+  gradle-refresh-dependencies: false
   working-directory: "./word-count/code"
 
 jobs:
   build-and-test:
     name: Build, Test and Assess code quality
-    uses: bakdata/ci-templates/.github/workflows/java-gradle-base.yaml@1.50.3
+    uses: bakdata/ci-templates/.github/workflows/java-gradle-base.yaml@1.50.4
     with:
       java-version: 21
       gradle-version: 8.4
@@ -44,25 +47,43 @@ jobs:
           password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}
 
       - name: Build and push sentence producer image
-        uses: bakdata/ci-templates/actions/java-gradle-build-jib@1.50.3
+        uses: bakdata/ci-templates/actions/java-gradle-build-jib@1.50.4
         with:
           full-image-name: bakdata/kpops-demo-sentence-producer
           class: com.bakdata.kpops.examples.SentenceProducer
           java-version: ${{ env.java-version }}
           gradle-version: ${{ env.gradle-version }}
           gradle-cache: true
-          gradle-cache-read-only: true
-          gradle-refresh-dependencies: false
+          gradle-cache-read-only: ${{ env.gradle-cache-read-only }}
+          gradle-refresh-dependencies: ${{ env.gradle-refresh-dependencies }}
           working-directory: ${{ env.working-directory }}
 
       - name: Build and push word count image
-        uses: bakdata/ci-templates/actions/java-gradle-build-jib@1.50.3
+        uses: bakdata/ci-templates/actions/java-gradle-build-jib@1.50.4
         with:
           full-image-name: bakdata/kpops-demo-word-count-app
           class: com.bakdata.kpops.examples.WordCountApplication
           java-version: ${{ env.java-version }}
           gradle-version: ${{ env.gradle-version }}
-          gradle-cache: true
-          gradle-cache-read-only: true
-          gradle-refresh-dependencies: false
+          gradle-cache: ${{ env.gradle-cache }}
+          gradle-cache-read-only: ${{ env.gradle-cache-read-only }}
+          gradle-refresh-dependencies: ${{ env.gradle-refresh-dependencies }}
+          working-directory: ${{ env.working-directory }}
+
+  release:
+    name: Create Github release
+    if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    needs: [build-and-test, build-jib]
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Release on Github
+        uses: bakdata/ci-templates/actions/java-gradle-release-github@1.50.4
+        with:
+          github-token: ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}
+          java-version: ${{ env.java-version }}
+          gradle-version: ${{ env.gradle-version }}
+          gradle-cache: ${{ env.gradle-cache }}
+          gradle-cache-read-only: ${{ env.gradle-cache-read-only }}
+          gradle-refresh-dependencies: ${{ env.gradle-refresh-dependencies }}
           working-directory: ${{ env.working-directory }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 68e2dec..eb671bc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ on:
 jobs:
   java-gradle-release:
     name: Java Gradle Release
-    uses: bakdata/ci-templates/.github/workflows/java-gradle-release.yaml@1.43.0
+    uses: bakdata/ci-templates/.github/workflows/java-gradle-release.yaml@1.50.4
     with:
       java-version: 21
       release-type: "${{ inputs.release-type }}"