diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index c400d3b7e..425540b97 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -54,13 +54,12 @@ jobs:
           git push
           git push --tags
 
-      # TODO requires the GRADLE_PUBLISH_KEY + GRADLE_PUBLISH_SECRET secrets - via https://plugins.gradle.org/user/login (IIRC)
-      #- name: gradle release ${{steps.metadata.outputs.current-version}}
-      #  uses: gradle/gradle-build-action@v2
-      #  with:
-      #    build-root-directory: ./tools/gradle-plugin
-      #    cache-read-only: true
-      #    arguments: publishPlugins -Pgradle.publish.key=${{secrets.GRADLE_PUBLISH_KEY}} -Pgradle.publish.secret=${{secrets.GRADLE_PUBLISH_SECRET}}
+      - name: Gradle plugin release ${{steps.metadata.outputs.current-version}}
+        uses: gradle/gradle-build-action@v2
+        with:
+          build-root-directory: ./tools/gradle-plugin
+          cache-read-only: true
+          arguments: publishPlugins -Pgradle.publish.key=${{secrets.GRADLE_PUBLISH_KEY}} -Pgradle.publish.secret=${{secrets.GRADLE_PUBLISH_SECRET}}
 
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
         name: tck-report
diff --git a/tools/gradle-plugin/build.gradle b/tools/gradle-plugin/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1962abfcf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/gradle-plugin/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+plugins {
+    id 'java-gradle-plugin'
+    id("com.gradle.plugin-publish") version "1.1.0"
+    id("com.github.vlsi.jandex") version "1.87"
+}
+
+group = "io.smallrye"
+
+if (JavaVersion.current().isJava9Compatible()) {
+    compileJava.options.compilerArgs.addAll(['--release', '8'])
+}
+
+compileJava {
+    options.encoding = 'UTF-8'
+    sourceCompatibility = '1.8'
+    targetCompatibility = '1.8'
+}
+
+compileTestJava {
+    options.encoding = 'UTF-8'
+}
+
+repositories {
+    mavenLocal()
+    mavenCentral()
+    maven {
+        url = uri("file:./target/dependencies")
+    }
+}
+
+dependencies {
+    implementation("io.smallrye:smallrye-open-api-core:${version}")
+    implementation("io.smallrye:smallrye-open-api-jaxrs:${version}")
+    implementation("io.smallrye:smallrye-open-api-spring:${version}")
+    implementation("io.smallrye:smallrye-open-api-vertx:${version}")
+    implementation("io.smallrye.config:smallrye-config:${versionConfig}")
+
+    testImplementation("org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter:${versionJunit5}")
+    testImplementation(gradleTestKit())
+    testImplementation("org.assertj:assertj-core:3.24.2")
+    testImplementation("com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:${versionJackson}")
+}
+
+test {
+    testLogging {
+        events "passed", "skipped", "failed"
+    }
+    useJUnitPlatform()
+    // multiple Gradle invocations executed from the same testing JVM cause problems, so fork
+    // for each test, and make sure we only run one Gradle execution in each test
+    forkEvery 1
+}
+
+gradlePlugin {
+    website = 'https://github.com/smallrye/smallrye-open-api/'
+    vcsUrl = 'https://github.com/smallrye/smallrye-open-api/'
+    plugins {
+        smallryeOpenAPIPlugin {
+            id = 'io.smallrye.openapi'
+            implementationClass = 'io.smallrye.openapi.gradleplugin.SmallryeOpenApiPlugin'
+            description = 'SmallRye: MicroProfile OpenAPI Gradle Plugin'
+            displayName = 'SmallRye: MicroProfile OpenAPI Gradle Plugin'
+            description = 'SmallRye: MicroProfile GraphQL Gradle Plugin'
+            tags.set([ 'smallrye', 'openapi', 'microprofile' ])
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+wrapper {
+    distributionType = Wrapper.DistributionType.ALL
+}
+
+tasks.pluginUnderTestMetadata.dependsOn(processJandexIndex)
diff --git a/tools/gradle-plugin/build.gradle.kts b/tools/gradle-plugin/build.gradle.kts
deleted file mode 100644
index 04d5eab3a..000000000
--- a/tools/gradle-plugin/build.gradle.kts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
-java {
-    sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
-    targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
-}
-
-plugins {
-    `java-gradle-plugin`
-    id("com.gradle.plugin-publish") version "1.1.0"
-    id("com.github.vlsi.jandex") version "1.87"
-}
-
-repositories {
-    mavenCentral()
-    maven {
-        url = uri("file:./target/dependencies")
-    }
-}
-
-dependencies {
-    val configVersion: String by project
-    val versionJackson: String by project
-    val versionJunit5: String by project
-
-    implementation("io.smallrye:smallrye-open-api-core:$version")
-    implementation("io.smallrye:smallrye-open-api-jaxrs:$version")
-    implementation("io.smallrye:smallrye-open-api-spring:$version")
-    implementation("io.smallrye:smallrye-open-api-vertx:$version")
-    implementation("io.smallrye.config:smallrye-config:$configVersion")
-
-    testImplementation("org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter:${versionJunit5}")
-    testImplementation(gradleTestKit())
-    testImplementation("org.assertj:assertj-core:3.24.2")
-    testImplementation("com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:${versionJackson}")
-}
-
-gradlePlugin {
-    val smallryePlugin by plugins.creating {
-        id = "io.smallrye.openapi"
-        implementationClass = "io.smallrye.openapi.gradleplugin.SmallryeOpenApiPlugin"
-        description = "Official Smallrye Open API Gradle plugin"
-    }
-}
-
-pluginBundle {
-    website = "https://github.com/smallrye/smallrye-open-api/"
-    vcsUrl = "https://github.com/smallrye/smallrye-open-api/"
-    tags = listOf("openapi", "smallrye")
-}
-
-tasks.named<Test>("test") {
-    useJUnitPlatform()
-}
-
-tasks.named("pluginUnderTestMetadata") {
-    dependsOn("processJandexIndex")
-}
-
-group = "io.smallrye"
diff --git a/tools/gradle-plugin/settings.gradle.kts b/tools/gradle-plugin/settings.gradle
similarity index 100%
rename from tools/gradle-plugin/settings.gradle.kts
rename to tools/gradle-plugin/settings.gradle
diff --git a/tools/gradle-plugin/src/maven-build/gradle.properties b/tools/gradle-plugin/src/maven-build/gradle.properties
index ce47e479d..0cfe26c71 100644
--- a/tools/gradle-plugin/src/maven-build/gradle.properties
+++ b/tools/gradle-plugin/src/maven-build/gradle.properties
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@
 # DO ONLY MODIFY THE FILE IN src/maven-build !
 #
 version=${project.version}
-configVersion=${version.io.smallrye.smallrye-config}
+versionConfig=${version.io.smallrye.smallrye-config}
 versionJackson=${jackson-bom.version}
 versionJunit5=${version.junit5}