diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 735a3e471c..403f79b528 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -270,6 +270,8 @@ THE SOFTWARE.
         <configuration>
           <!-- enable release profile during the release, create IPS package, and sign bits. -->
           <prepareVerifyArgs>-P release,sign</prepareVerifyArgs>
+          <!-- work around for a bug in javadoc plugin that causes the release to fail. see MRELEASE-271 -->
+          <preparationGoals>clean install</preparationGoals>
           <goals>-DskipTests javadoc:javadoc animal-sniffer:check deploy javadoc:aggregate</goals>
           <pushChanges>false</pushChanges>
           <localCheckout>true</localCheckout>