diff --git a/.github/workflows/npmpublish.yml b/.github/workflows/npmpublish.yml
index 8565c0475d8..29328021a98 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/npmpublish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/npmpublish.yml
@@ -32,44 +32,44 @@ jobs:
         with:
           node-version: 12
           registry-url: https://registry.npmjs.org/
-      # Since we created the release in the UI, we need to find it.
-      # This step gets the release from the GITHUB_REF env var
-      - name: Get release
-        id: get_release
-        uses: bruceadams/get-release@v1.2.2
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
       - name: Setup and build
         run: |
           npm ci
           npm install -g json
-          json -I -f package.json -e "this.version=\"$GITHUB_REF\""
-          json -I -f package-lock.json -e "this.version=\"$GITHUB_REF\""
+          json -I -f package.json -e "this.version=\"$VERSION\""
+          json -I -f package-lock.json -e "this.version=\"$VERSION\""
           npm run build
-          ./scripts/docs-config.sh "${GITHUB_REF:1}"
+          ./scripts/docs-config.sh "${VERSION:1}"
           npm run docs
           npm run typedoc
           npm pack
+        env:
+          VERSION: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
       - name: Publish to NPM
         run: ./scripts/publish.sh
         env:
           NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{secrets.NPM_TOKEN}}
-      # On releases, GITHUB_REF is the tag name which is the version
+          VERSION: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
+      # On releases, VERSION is the tag name which is the version
       # However, it will include the leading "v", so we need to strip that
       # first character off here since we want the docs folder to not have
       # the "v" in it.
       - name: Deploy Docs
-        run: ./scripts/deploy-docs.sh "${GITHUB_REF:1}"
+        run: ./scripts/deploy-docs.sh "${VERSION:1}"
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GH_AUTH_TOKEN }}
           GH_AUTH_EMAIL: ${{ secrets.GH_AUTH_EMAIL }}
+        env:
+          VERSION: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
       - name: Upload NPM package file
         id: upload-npm-package-file
         uses: actions/upload-release-asset@v1
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         with:
-          upload_url: ${{ steps.get_release.outputs.upload_url }}
-          asset_path: chart.js-$GITHUB_REF.tgz
-          asset_name: chart.js-$GITHUB_REF.tgz
+          upload_url: ${{ github.event.release.upload_url }}
+          asset_path: chart.js-$VERSION.tgz
+          asset_name: chart.js-$VERSION.tgz
           asset_content_type: application/gzip
+        env:
+          VERSION: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
diff --git a/scripts/publish.sh b/scripts/publish.sh
index c10cb71945e..bf7781337ee 100755
--- a/scripts/publish.sh
+++ b/scripts/publish.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ set -e
 
 NPM_TAG="next"
 
-if [[ "$GITHUB_REF" =~ ^[^-]+$ ]]; then
+if [[ "$VERSION" =~ ^[^-]+$ ]]; then
     echo "Release tag indicates a full release. Releasing as \"latest\"."
     NPM_TAG="latest"
 fi