diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b2359d2..c70213b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ converter available in Kafka Connect.
 
 *Note:* only internal Blue Apron employees can deploy to Maven Central
 1. Update the version to include -SNAPSHOT
-1. Prepare your local environment for the deploy
+1. Prepare your local environment for the deploy. If you already have a custom `~/.m2/settings.xml`, you may want to back up or merge your existing file rather than overwrite it.
     ```
     cp settings.xml ~/.m2/settings.xml
     export GPG_PASSPHRASE=
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 882a592..779a882 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <groupId>com.blueapron</groupId>
     <artifactId>kafka-connect-protobuf-converter</artifactId>
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
-    <version>2.2.2-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>2.3.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
 
     <name>com.blueapron:kafka-connect-protobuf-converter</name>
     <description>Converter plugin for Kafka Connect. A converter controls the format of the data
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@
     </organization>
 
     <properties>
-        <protobuf.version>3.4.0</protobuf.version>
+        <java.version>1.8</java.version>
+        <protobuf.version>3.11.1</protobuf.version>
         <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
     </properties>
 
@@ -170,6 +171,9 @@
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
                 <version>2.9.1</version>
+                <configuration>
+                    <source>${java.version}</source>
+                </configuration>
                 <executions>
                     <execution>
                         <id>attach-javadocs</id>
@@ -178,14 +182,14 @@
                         </goals>
                     </execution>
                 </executions>
-                </plugin>
+            </plugin>
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                 <version>3.3</version>
                 <configuration>
-                    <source>1.8</source>
-                    <target>1.8</target>
+                    <source>${java.version}</source>
+                    <target>${java.version}</target>
                 </configuration>
             </plugin>
             <plugin>