diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index e5a68111..0be2d122 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -94,6 +94,10 @@ jobs:
         distribution: 'zulu'
         java-version: 8
 
+    - name: Publish preflight check
+      id: preflight
+      run: ./.github/scripts/publish_preflight_check.sh
+
     # See: https://cli.github.com/manual/gh_release_create
     - name: Create release tag
       env:
@@ -105,10 +109,6 @@ jobs:
           --title "Firebase Admin Java SDK $RELEASE_VER" \
           --notes "$RELEASE_BODY"
 
-    - name: Publish preflight check
-      id: preflight
-      run: ./.github/scripts/publish_preflight_check.sh
-
     - name: Publish to Maven Central
       run: ./.github/scripts/publish_artifacts.sh
       env:
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 83a2a23a..b6098b85 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 
     <groupId>com.google.firebase</groupId>
     <artifactId>firebase-admin</artifactId>
-    <version>9.7.0</version>
+    <version>9.7.1</version>
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
 
     <name>firebase-admin</name>