diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 773651783f88..c6a5169f3e54 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -172,6 +172,7 @@ jobs:
           COSIGN_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{secrets.COSIGN_PRIVATE_KEY}}
           COSIGN_PASSWORD: ${{secrets.COSIGN_PASSWORD}}
         run: |
+          : ${DOCKER_CONFIG:=~/.docker}
           echo $(jq -c '. + { "experimental": "enabled" }' ${DOCKER_CONFIG}/config.json) > ${DOCKER_CONFIG}/config.json
 
           docker_org=$DOCKERIO_ORG