diff --git a/.github/actions/gcp-secret-get/action.yml b/.github/actions/gcp-secret-get/action.yml
index 4a9e6e6..4e386c8 100644
--- a/.github/actions/gcp-secret-get/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/gcp-secret-get/action.yml
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ runs:
     - name: Fetch secret from Secret Manager
       uses: google-github-actions/get-secretmanager-secrets@v3
       with:
+        export_to_environment: true # default is false — without this, $SECRET_JSON is empty in the next step
         secrets: |-
           SECRET_JSON:${{ inputs.gcp-project-id }}/${{ inputs.gcp-secret-name }}