diff --git a/.kokoro/common.sh b/.kokoro/common.sh
index a8d0ea04..ace89f45 100644
--- a/.kokoro/common.sh
+++ b/.kokoro/common.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ function retry_with_backoff {
     
     # allow a failures to continue
     set +e
-    echo "${command}"
     ${command}
     exit_code=$?
 
diff --git a/.kokoro/release/stage.sh b/.kokoro/release/stage.sh
index 3c482cbc..16126d2e 100755
--- a/.kokoro/release/stage.sh
+++ b/.kokoro/release/stage.sh
@@ -20,19 +20,22 @@ python3 -m pip install gcp-releasetool
 python3 -m releasetool publish-reporter-script > /tmp/publisher-script; source /tmp/publisher-script
 
 source $(dirname "$0")/common.sh
+source $(dirname "$0")/../common.sh
 MAVEN_SETTINGS_FILE=$(realpath $(dirname "$0")/../../)/settings.xml
 pushd $(dirname "$0")/../../
 
 setup_environment_secrets
 create_settings_xml_file "settings.xml"
 
-mvn clean install deploy -B \
-  --settings ${MAVEN_SETTINGS_FILE} \
-  -DskipTests=true \
-  -DperformRelease=true \
-  -Dgpg.executable=gpg \
-  -Dgpg.passphrase=${GPG_PASSPHRASE} \
-  -Dgpg.homedir=${GPG_HOMEDIR}
+# attempt to stage 3 times with exponential backoff (starting with 10 seconds)
+retry_with_backoff 3 10 \
+  mvn clean install deploy -B \
+    --settings ${MAVEN_SETTINGS_FILE} \
+    -DskipTests=true \
+    -DperformRelease=true \
+    -Dgpg.executable=gpg \
+    -Dgpg.passphrase=${GPG_PASSPHRASE} \
+    -Dgpg.homedir=${GPG_HOMEDIR}
 
 if [[ -n "${AUTORELEASE_PR}" ]]
 then
diff --git a/synth.metadata b/synth.metadata
index 59566088..c752ba91 100644
--- a/synth.metadata
+++ b/synth.metadata
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
       "git": {
         "name": ".",
         "remote": "https://github.com/googleapis/java-monitoring-dashboards.git",
-        "sha": "6a96c9c2c54fb41e8d1a8e14d80a544c2a8e3e10"
+        "sha": "1601d7623c0ca874b3f32ce3387acd5af8afc045"
       }
     },
     {
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
       "git": {
         "name": "synthtool",
         "remote": "https://github.com/googleapis/synthtool.git",
-        "sha": "7fcc405a579d5d53a726ff3da1b7c8c08f0f2d58"
+        "sha": "68742c6016bf0d16948a572633d17955a8737414"
       }
     }
   ],