diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 9e5436f651..fba4e9b98e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ CMD_ARGS = $(filter-out $@,$(MAKECMDGOALS))
 %:
   @:
 
+NPM_RELEASE_TAG ?= latest
 EXTENSIONS_DIR = ./extensions
 extensions = $(foreach dir, $(wildcard $(EXTENSIONS_DIR)/*), ${dir})
 extension_node_modules = $(foreach dir, $(wildcard $(EXTENSIONS_DIR)/*), ${dir}/node_modules)
@@ -114,7 +115,7 @@ build-extension-types: node_modules src/extensions/npm/extensions/dist
 .PHONY: publish-npm
 publish-npm: node_modules build-npm
 	./node_modules/.bin/npm config set '//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken' "${NPM_TOKEN}"
-	cd src/extensions/npm/extensions && npm publish --access=public --tag=${NPM_RELEASE_TAG:-latest}
+	cd src/extensions/npm/extensions && npm publish --access=public --tag=$(NPM_RELEASE_TAG)
 	git restore src/extensions/npm/extensions/package.json
 
 .PHONY: docs