diff --git a/plugins/convention-plugins/src/main/kotlin/PropertyOrEnv.kt b/plugins/convention-plugins/src/main/kotlin/PropertyOrEnv.kt
index 5bf2e76a0..8e1fe49ac 100644
--- a/plugins/convention-plugins/src/main/kotlin/PropertyOrEnv.kt
+++ b/plugins/convention-plugins/src/main/kotlin/PropertyOrEnv.kt
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ internal fun Project.propertyOrEnv(key: String): String {
         ?: error("Didn't find any value for the key \"$key\" in Project properties or environment variables.")
 }
 
-internal fun Project.propertyOrEnvOrNull(key: String): String? {
-    return findProperty(key) as String? ?: System.getenv(key)
+internal fun Project.propertyOrEnvOrNull(
+    key: String,
+    nullIfEmpty: Boolean = true
+): String? {
+    return (findProperty(key) as String?)?.takeUnless { nullIfEmpty && it.isEmpty() }
+        ?: System.getenv(key)?.takeUnless { nullIfEmpty && it.isEmpty() }
 }
diff --git a/plugins/convention-plugins/src/main/kotlin/gradle-plugin.gradle.kts b/plugins/convention-plugins/src/main/kotlin/gradle-plugin.gradle.kts
index 9802b9817..b6c5d96b3 100644
--- a/plugins/convention-plugins/src/main/kotlin/gradle-plugin.gradle.kts
+++ b/plugins/convention-plugins/src/main/kotlin/gradle-plugin.gradle.kts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ plugins {
 }
 
 signing {
+    isRequired = false
     useInMemoryPgpKeys(
         propertyOrEnvOrNull("GPG_key_id"),
         propertyOrEnvOrNull("GPG_private_key") ?: return@signing,
diff --git a/plugins/core/src/main/kotlin/de/fayard/refreshVersions/core/RefreshVersionsCoreSetup.kt b/plugins/core/src/main/kotlin/de/fayard/refreshVersions/core/RefreshVersionsCoreSetup.kt
index 91ce37051..c5ca43864 100644
--- a/plugins/core/src/main/kotlin/de/fayard/refreshVersions/core/RefreshVersionsCoreSetup.kt
+++ b/plugins/core/src/main/kotlin/de/fayard/refreshVersions/core/RefreshVersionsCoreSetup.kt
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import de.fayard.refreshVersions.core.internal.setupVersionPlaceholdersResolving
 import org.gradle.api.artifacts.ExternalDependency
 import org.gradle.api.file.RegularFile
 import org.gradle.api.initialization.Settings
-import org.gradle.api.internal.artifacts.dependencies.DefaultClientModule
 import org.gradle.kotlin.dsl.apply
 import org.gradle.tooling.UnsupportedVersionException
 import org.gradle.util.GradleVersion
@@ -212,7 +211,7 @@ private fun setupPluginsVersionsResolution(
                 val pluginVersion = requested.version ?: return@eachPlugin
                 UsedPluginsTracker.pluginHasNoEntryInVersionsFile(
                     settings = settings,
-                    dependency = pluginIdToDependency(pluginId, pluginVersion)
+                    dependency = pluginIdToDependency(settings, pluginId, pluginVersion)
                 )
                 return@eachPlugin
             }
@@ -248,5 +247,11 @@ internal fun pluginDependencyNotationToVersionKey(dependencyNotation: String): S
         else -> null
     }
 
-internal fun pluginIdToDependency(pluginId: String, version: String): ExternalDependency =
-    DefaultClientModule(pluginId, "$pluginId.gradle.plugin", version)
+internal fun pluginIdToDependency(
+    settings: Settings,
+    pluginId: String,
+    version: String
+): ExternalDependency {
+    val dependencyNotation = "$pluginId:$pluginId.gradle.plugin:$version"
+    return settings.gradle.rootProject.buildscript.dependencies.create(dependencyNotation) as ExternalDependency
+}