diff --git a/bootstrapper-maven-plugin/src/main/resources/templates/pom.xml b/bootstrapper-maven-plugin/src/main/resources/templates/pom.xml
index bba9aa9c70..5d3451a4a6 100644
--- a/bootstrapper-maven-plugin/src/main/resources/templates/pom.xml
+++ b/bootstrapper-maven-plugin/src/main/resources/templates/pom.xml
@@ -29,8 +29,7 @@
 
     <properties>
         <java.version>17</java.version>
-        <maven.compiler.source>${java.version}</maven.compiler.source>
-        <maven.compiler.target>${java.version}</maven.compiler.target>
+        <maven.compiler.release>${java.version}</maven.compiler.release>
         <josdk.version>{{josdkVersion}}</josdk.version>
         <slf4j.version>2.0.17</slf4j.version>
         <junit.version>5.9.2</junit.version>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 20996dcaf0..393ea4a311 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -65,8 +65,7 @@
   <properties>
     <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
     <java.version>17</java.version>
-    <maven.compiler.source>${java.version}</maven.compiler.source>
-    <maven.compiler.target>${java.version}</maven.compiler.target>
+    <maven.compiler.release>${java.version}</maven.compiler.release>
     <sonar.organization>java-operator-sdk</sonar.organization>
     <sonar.host.url>https://sonarcloud.io</sonar.host.url>
     <fabric8-httpclient-impl.name>jdk</fabric8-httpclient-impl.name>