diff --git a/build_defs.bzl b/build_defs.bzl
index 01a480ea805..2cb022015af 100644
--- a/build_defs.bzl
+++ b/build_defs.bzl
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ SOURCE_7_TARGET_7 = [
     "1.7",
 ]
 
-POM_VERSION = "${project.version}"
+POM_VERSION = "2.31.2"
 
 # DO NOT remove the comment on the next line. It's used in deploy-to-maven-central.sh
-POM_VERSION_ALPHA = POM_VERSION  #ALPHA_POSTFIX
+POM_VERSION_ALPHA = POM_VERSION  + "-alpha"