diff --git a/.github/workflows/tool-create-release.yml b/.github/workflows/tool-create-release.yml
index 69892d69..83daec62 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tool-create-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tool-create-release.yml
@@ -18,17 +18,19 @@ jobs:
   create_release:
     name: Create Release
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      tag: ${{ inputs.tag }}
     steps:
       - name: Validate Tag Format
         run: |
-          if [[ ! "${{ github.event.inputs.tag }}" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+          if [[ ! "$tag" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
             echo "Error: Tag must be in the format X.Y.Z (e.g. 1.0.0)"
             exit 1
           fi
       
       - name: Configure AWS Credentials
         id: credentials
-        uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v8df5847569e6427dd6c4fb1cf565c83acfa8afa7 # v6.0.0
+        uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@8df5847569e6427dd6c4fb1cf565c83acfa8afa7 # v6.0.0
         with:
           role-to-assume: ${{ secrets.IAM_ROLE }}
           aws-region: ${{ vars.AWS_REGION }}
@@ -42,8 +44,8 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           git config --global user.name "github-actions"
           git config --global user.email "github@github.com"
-          git tag ${{ github.event.inputs.tag }}
-          git push origin ${{ github.event.inputs.tag }}
+          git tag $tag
+          git push origin $tag
 
       - name: Full Deployment
         uses: ./.github/workflows/full-deployment.yml
@@ -55,7 +57,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Re-tag ECR Images with Release Tag
         env:
           IMAGE_SHA: ${{ github.sha }}
-          IMAGE_TAG: ${{ inputs.tag }}
         run: |
           repo-list=['deductions/ehr-out-service', 
                       'deductions/ehr-repo', 
@@ -69,8 +70,8 @@ jobs:
           for repo in "${repo-list[@]}"; do
             repo=${{ steps.credentials.outputs.aws-account-id }}.dkr.ecr.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/$repo
             docker pull $repo:$IMAGE_SHA
-            docker tag $repo:$IMAGE_SHA $repo:$IMAGE_TAG
-            docker push $repo:$IMAGE_TAG
+            docker tag $repo:$IMAGE_SHA $repo:$tag
+            docker push $repo:$tag
           done