diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index d8160986e82..e533a7fe266 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ configure(allprojects) {
     sourceCompatibility=1.5
     targetCompatibility=1.5
 
-    slf4jLog4jVersion = '1.5.10'
+    ext.slf4jLog4jVersion = '1.5.10'
 
     [compileJava, compileTestJava]*.options*.compilerArgs = ['-Xlint:none']
 
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ configure(subprojects) { subproject ->
 
 project("spring-asm") {
     description = 'Spring ASM'
-    asmVersion = '2.2.3'
+    ext.asmVersion = '2.2.3'
 
     configurations {
         asm
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@ configure(rootProject) {
         description = "Builds -${classifier} archive, containing all jars and docs, " +
                       "suitable for community download page."
 
-        baseDir = "${project.name}-${project.version}";
+        def baseDir = "${project.name}-${project.version}";
 
         from('src/dist') {
             include 'readme.txt'
@@ -581,7 +581,7 @@ configure(rootProject) {
 
     task wrapper(type: Wrapper) {
         description = 'Generates gradlew[.bat] scripts'
-        gradleVersion = '1.0-milestone-8a'
+        gradleVersion = '1.0-rc-1'
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
index 29e8a275e6d..d4bfedeca95 100644
--- a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
+++ b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-#Thu Feb 23 13:43:17 CET 2012
+#Sat Apr 14 10:56:11 EEST 2012
 distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 distributionPath=wrapper/dists
 zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 zipStorePath=wrapper/dists
-distributionUrl=http\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-1.0-milestone-8a-bin.zip
+distributionUrl=http\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-1.0-rc-1-bin.zip
diff --git a/publish-maven.gradle b/publish-maven.gradle
index 17a84f86ecf..0b7c68d198e 100644
--- a/publish-maven.gradle
+++ b/publish-maven.gradle
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 apply plugin: 'maven'
 
-optionalDeps = []
-providedDeps = []
+ext.optionalDeps = []
+ext.providedDeps = []
 
-optional = { optionalDeps << it }
-provided = { providedDeps << it }
+ext.optional = { optionalDeps << it }
+ext.provided = { providedDeps << it }
 
 install {
     repositories.mavenInstaller {
diff --git a/spring-oxm/oxm.gradle b/spring-oxm/oxm.gradle
index c8dceea4a34..ede4d5cbb39 100644
--- a/spring-oxm/oxm.gradle
+++ b/spring-oxm/oxm.gradle
@@ -13,15 +13,15 @@ dependencies {
     jibx "bcel:bcel:5.1"
 }
 
-genSourcesDir = "${buildDir}/generated-sources"
-flightSchema = "${projectDir}/src/test/resources/org/springframework/oxm/flight.xsd"
+ext.genSourcesDir = "${buildDir}/generated-sources"
+ext.flightSchema = "${projectDir}/src/test/resources/org/springframework/oxm/flight.xsd"
 
 task genCastor {
-    orderSchema = "${projectDir}/src/test/resources/org/springframework/oxm/order.xsd"
-    castorBuilderProperties = "${projectDir}/src/test/castor/castorbuilder.properties"
+    def orderSchema = "${projectDir}/src/test/resources/org/springframework/oxm/order.xsd"
+    def castorBuilderProperties = "${projectDir}/src/test/castor/castorbuilder.properties"
 
-    sourcesDir = "${genSourcesDir}/castor"
-    classesDir = "${buildDir}/classes/castor"
+    ext.sourcesDir = "${genSourcesDir}/castor"
+    ext.classesDir = "${buildDir}/classes/castor"
 
     inputs.files flightSchema, orderSchema, castorBuilderProperties
     outputs.dir classesDir
@@ -56,8 +56,8 @@ task genCastor {
 }
 
 task genJaxb {
-    sourcesDir = "${genSourcesDir}/jaxb"
-    classesDir = "${buildDir}/classes/jaxb"
+    ext.sourcesDir = "${genSourcesDir}/jaxb"
+    ext.classesDir = "${buildDir}/classes/jaxb"
 
     inputs.files flightSchema
     outputs.dir classesDir
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ task genJaxb {
 }
 
 task genXmlbeans {
-    classesDir = "${buildDir}/classes/xmlbeans"
+    ext.classesDir = "${buildDir}/classes/xmlbeans"
 
     inputs.files flightSchema
     outputs.dir classesDir
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ task genXmlbeans {
 
 // add jibx binding to the normal test compilation process
 compileTestJava {
-    bindingXml = "${projectDir}/src/test/resources/org/springframework/oxm/jibx/binding.xml"
+    def bindingXml = "${projectDir}/src/test/resources/org/springframework/oxm/jibx/binding.xml"
 
     doLast() {
         project.ant {