diff --git a/gulpfile.js b/gulpfile.js
index 5d8cd30..1cc5c2d 100644
--- a/gulpfile.js
+++ b/gulpfile.js
@@ -242,11 +242,10 @@ gulp.task('inject', function () {
 });
 
 var pkg = require('./package.json');
-var nextVersion;
-var ghToken;
+var nextVersion = pkg.version;
+var ghToken = gutil.env.token;
 
 gulp.task('release:init', function (cb) {
-    ghToken = gutil.env.token;
     if (!ghToken) {
         return cb(new Error('--token is required (github personal access token'));
     }
@@ -254,8 +253,6 @@ gulp.task('release:init', function (cb) {
         return cb(new Error('--token length must be 40, not ' + ghToken.length));
     }
 
-    nextVersion = pkg.version;
-
     if (gutil.env.skipnewtag) {
         return cb();
     }