diff --git a/app-gradle-plugin/build.gradle.kts b/app-gradle-plugin/build.gradle.kts
index 0c6a0c4d4..ac5fd12ab 100644
--- a/app-gradle-plugin/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/app-gradle-plugin/build.gradle.kts
@@ -186,9 +186,19 @@ publishing {
     }
   }
   repositories {
-    // For OSS Exit Gate
-    maven {
-      url = uri("artifactregistry://us-maven.pkg.dev/oss-exit-gate-prod/appengine-gradle-plugin--com-google-cloud-tools--maven-central")
+    // For local staging of the artifacts. The release script passes this
+    // property to the Maven commmand, which passes it to the Gradle build.
+    if (project.hasProperty("altDeploymentRepository")) {
+        val altDeploymentRepository = project.property("altDeploymentRepository") as String
+        if (altDeploymentRepository.startsWith("local::")) {
+            // Old maven-deploy-plugin had "local::default::file:" and the
+            // new maven-deploy-plugin has "local::file:" prefix.
+            val stagingDir = altDeploymentRepository.substringAfter("file:")
+            maven {
+                name = "local"
+                url = uri(stagingDir)
+            }
+        }
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index ed9241625..e327e1a17 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@
   <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
 
+  <properties>
+    <!-- The local filesystem path to deploy the artifacts. This is passed by
+      the mvn command in the release script. -->
+    <altDeploymentRepository/>
+  </properties>
+
   <modules>
     <module>appengine-plugins-core</module>
     <module>app-maven-plugin</module>
@@ -109,6 +115,26 @@
                   <goal>exec</goal>
                 </goals>
               </execution>
+              <execution>
+                <id>deploy</id>
+                <!-- This execution allows the root Maven project to deploy the
+                  Gradle plugin artifact as part of its release build. This removes
+                  the need of creating a custom release script for this repository. -->
+                <phase>deploy</phase>
+                <configuration>
+                  <executable>./gradlew</executable>
+                  <arguments>
+                    <argument>publish</argument>
+                    <argument>-x</argument>
+                    <argument>test</argument>
+                    <argument>-PaltDeploymentRepository=${altDeploymentRepository}</argument>
+                  </arguments>
+                  <workingDirectory>app-gradle-plugin</workingDirectory>
+                </configuration>
+                <goals>
+                  <goal>exec</goal>
+                </goals>
+              </execution>
             </executions>
           </plugin>
         </plugins>