diff --git a/.github/workflows/gather-artifacts.sh b/.github/workflows/gather-artifacts.sh
index db7a235be2..0e75ea3609 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/gather-artifacts.sh
+++ b/.github/workflows/gather-artifacts.sh
@@ -14,5 +14,5 @@ do
     tar -xvf $c
 done
 
-tar cfJ ../kata-static.tar.xz ./opt
+tar cvfJ ../kata-static.tar.xz ./opt
 popd >>/dev/null
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yaml b/.github/workflows/main.yaml
index 75fad0a526..9d0bb922bb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yaml
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+name: Publish release tarball
 on: 
   push: 
     tags:
@@ -339,7 +340,10 @@ jobs:
       - name: push static tarball to github
         run: |
           tag=$(echo $GITHUB_REF | cut -d/ -f3-)
-          mv release-candidate/kata-static.tar.xz release-candidate/kata-static-$tag-x86_64.tar.xz
-          git clone https://github.com/kata-containers/runtime.git
+          tarball="kata-static-$tag-x86_64.tar.xz"
+          repo="https://github.com/kata-containers/runtime.git"
+          mv release-candidate/kata-static.tar.xz "release-candidate/${tarball}"
+          git clone "${repo}"
           cd runtime
-          GITHUB_TOKEN=${{ secrets.GIT_UPLOAD_TOKEN }} hub release edit -m "" -a ../release-candidate/kata-static-${tag}-x86_64.tar.xz "${tag}"
+          echo "uploading asset '${tarball}' to '${repo}' tag: ${tag}"
+          GITHUB_TOKEN=${{ secrets.GIT_UPLOAD_TOKEN }} hub release edit -m "" -a "../release-candidate/${tarball}" "${tag}"