diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish.yaml b/.github/workflows/publish.yaml
index 80741db..bfb46f3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish.yaml
@@ -20,6 +20,15 @@ jobs:
           gpg-private-key: ${{ secrets.MAVEN_GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }} # Value of the GPG private key to import
           gpg-passphrase: MAVEN_GPG_PASSPHRASE # env variable for GPG private key passphrase
 
+      - name: Check release tag matches pom version
+        if: github.event_name == 'release'
+        run: |
+          VERSION=$(mvn -q help:evaluate -Dexpression=project.version -DforceStdout)
+          if [ "${GITHUB_REF_NAME#v}" != "$VERSION" ]; then
+            echo "::error::Release tag $GITHUB_REF_NAME does not match pom version $VERSION"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
       - name: Publish to Apache Maven Central
         run: mvn clean deploy
         env: