diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 2779746bdb..40c93706fc 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@
     <openbracket>{</openbracket>
     <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
     <java.level>8</java.level>
+    <!-- TODO: remove after updating to a recent parent POM -->
+    <maven-release-plugin.version>2.5.3</maven-release-plugin.version>
   </properties>
 
   <repositories>