diff --git a/tools/release/publish-mvn-artifacts.sh b/tools/release/publish-mvn-artifacts.sh
index 629b868f5..00f3af1ed 100755
--- a/tools/release/publish-mvn-artifacts.sh
+++ b/tools/release/publish-mvn-artifacts.sh
@@ -12,12 +12,17 @@ if [ -z "$PATH_TO_REPO" ]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
+# if PATH_TO_REPO is not blank, but does not end with a slash, add one
+if [[ "$PATH_TO_REPO" != "/"* ]]; then
+  PATH_TO_REPO="$PATH_TO_REPO/"
+fi
+
 if [ ! -f "${PATH_TO_REPO}java/pom.xml" ]; then
   printf "${RED}${PATH_TO_REPO}java/pom.xml not found. set <path-to-repo> argument to point to the root of a psoxy checkout. Exiting.${NC}\n"
   exit 1
 fi
 
-printf "${YELLOW}WARNING: this is not recommended; use ${BLUE}gh run publish-mvn-artifacts.yaml --ref <version>${NC}${YELLOW} instead. That will be a more reliable fresh build.${NC}\n"
+printf "${YELLOW}WARNING: this is not recommended; use ${BLUE}gh run publish-release-artifacts.yaml --ref <version>${NC}${YELLOW} instead. That will be a more reliable fresh build.${NC}\n"
 
 # 1. Branch/Tag Validation
 CURRENT_BRANCH=$(git -C "$PATH_TO_REPO" branch --show-current)