diff --git a/.github/workflows/check_transport.yml b/.github/workflows/check_transport.yml
index 7ec975d72c..4525349d28 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check_transport.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check_transport.yml
@@ -4,41 +4,41 @@ on:
   pull_request: {}
 permissions: read-all
 jobs:
-#  preliminary:
-#    name: preliminary sanity checks
-#    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
-#    steps:
-#      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
-#        with:
-#          fetch-depth: 0 #needed by spotless
-#      - uses: actions/setup-java@v3
-#        with:
-#          distribution: 'temurin'
-#          java-version: 17
-#      - name: spotless (license header)
-#        if: always()
-#        run: ./gradlew clean spotlessCheck -PspotlessFrom=origin/${{ github.base_ref }}
-#      - name: api compatibility
-#        if: always()
-#        run: ./gradlew clean japicmp
-#      - name: how to fix
-#        if: failure()
+  preliminary:
+    name: preliminary sanity checks
+    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0 #needed by spotless
+      - uses: actions/setup-java@v3
+        with:
+          distribution: 'temurin'
+          java-version: 17
+      - name: spotless (license header)
+        if: always()
+        run: ./gradlew clean spotlessCheck -PspotlessFrom=origin/${{ github.base_ref }}
+      - name: api compatibility
+        if: always()
+        run: ./gradlew clean japicmp
+      - name: how to fix
+        if: failure()
         # the foreground (38;5) color code 208 is orange. we also have bold, white bg (38;5;0;48;5;255m), white fg on black bg...
-#        run: |
-#          echo -e "\n\033[38;5;0;48;5;208m \u001b[1m How to deal with errors in preliminary job: \u001b[0m\033[0m"
-#          echo "(Have a look at the steps above to see what failed exactly)"
-#          echo -e "\n - \u001b[1mSpotless (license headers)\u001b[0m failures on touched java files \033[38;5;255;48;5;0m\u001b[1mcan be automatically fixed by running\u001b[0m:"
-#          echo -e "   \033[38;5;0;48;5;255m ./gradlew spotlessApply \033[0m"
-#          echo -e "\n - \u001b[1mAPI Compatibility\u001b[0m failures should be considered carefully and \033[38;5;255;48;5;0m\u001b[1mdiscussed with maintainers in the PR\u001b[0m"
-#          echo "   If there are failures, the detail should be available in the step's log:"
-#          echo -e "   Look for the \033[38;5;0;48;5;255m API compatibility failures \033[0m block(s)."
-#          echo "   Alternatively, locally run the following command to get access to the full report:"
-#          echo -e "   \033[38;5;0;48;5;255m ./gradlew japicmp \033[0m"
-#          echo ""
-#          exit -1
+        run: |
+          echo -e "\n\033[38;5;0;48;5;208m \u001b[1m How to deal with errors in preliminary job: \u001b[0m\033[0m"
+          echo "(Have a look at the steps above to see what failed exactly)"
+          echo -e "\n - \u001b[1mSpotless (license headers)\u001b[0m failures on touched java files \033[38;5;255;48;5;0m\u001b[1mcan be automatically fixed by running\u001b[0m:"
+          echo -e "   \033[38;5;0;48;5;255m ./gradlew spotlessApply \033[0m"
+          echo -e "\n - \u001b[1mAPI Compatibility\u001b[0m failures should be considered carefully and \033[38;5;255;48;5;0m\u001b[1mdiscussed with maintainers in the PR\u001b[0m"
+          echo "   If there are failures, the detail should be available in the step's log:"
+          echo -e "   Look for the \033[38;5;0;48;5;255m API compatibility failures \033[0m block(s)."
+          echo "   Alternatively, locally run the following command to get access to the full report:"
+          echo -e "   \033[38;5;0;48;5;255m ./gradlew japicmp \033[0m"
+          echo ""
+          exit -1
 
   build:
-#    needs: preliminary
+    needs: preliminary
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
@@ -50,40 +50,40 @@ jobs:
           - os: windows-2019
             transport: native
           # macOS - https://github.com/netty/netty/issues/9689
-          - os: macos-11
-            transport: native
+          #- os: macos-11
+          #  transport: native
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
-        with:
-          path: reactor-netty
-          fetch-depth: 0 #needed by spotless
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
-        with:
-          repository: netty-contrib/codec-haproxy
-          path: codec-haproxy
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
-        with:
-          repository: netty-contrib/codec-extras
-          path: codec-extras
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
-        with:
-          repository: netty-contrib/socks-proxy
-          path: socks-proxy
+#        with:
+#          path: reactor-netty
+#          fetch-depth: 0 #needed by spotless
+#      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+#        with:
+#          repository: netty-contrib/codec-haproxy
+#          path: codec-haproxy
+#      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+#        with:
+#          repository: netty-contrib/codec-extras
+#          path: codec-extras
+#      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+#        with:
+#          repository: netty-contrib/socks-proxy
+#          path: socks-proxy
       - uses: gradle/wrapper-validation-action@v1
       - name: Set up JDK 17
         uses: actions/setup-java@v3
         with:
           distribution: 'temurin'
           java-version: 17
-      - name: Build codec-haproxy
-        run: ./mvnw install -DskipTests=true "-Dnetty.version=5.0.0.Alpha5"
-        working-directory: ./codec-haproxy
-      - name: Build codec-extras
-        run: ./mvnw install -DskipTests=true "-Dnetty.version=5.0.0.Alpha5"
-        working-directory: ./codec-extras
-      - name: Build socks-proxy
-        run: ./mvnw install -DskipTests=true "-Dnetty.version=5.0.0.Alpha5"
-        working-directory: ./socks-proxy
+#      - name: Build codec-haproxy
+#        run: ./mvnw install -DskipTests=true "-Dnetty.version=5.0.0.Alpha5"
+#        working-directory: ./codec-haproxy
+#      - name: Build codec-extras
+#        run: ./mvnw install -DskipTests=true "-Dnetty.version=5.0.0.Alpha5"
+#        working-directory: ./codec-extras
+#      - name: Build socks-proxy
+#        run: ./mvnw install -DskipTests=true "-Dnetty.version=5.0.0.Alpha5"
+#        working-directory: ./socks-proxy
       - name: Build with Gradle
-        run: ./gradlew clean check --no-daemon -PforceTransport=${{ matrix.transport }} -PspotlessFrom=origin/netty5
-        working-directory: ./reactor-netty
\ No newline at end of file
+        run: ./gradlew clean check --no-daemon -PforceTransport=${{ matrix.transport }} -x spotlessCheck
+#        working-directory: ./reactor-netty
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish.yml b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
index e9a5e6ba6d..de7a46de55 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ on:
     branches: # For branches, better to list them explicitly than regexp include
       - main
       - 1.0.x
+      - netty5
 permissions: read-all
 jobs:
   # General job notes: we DON'T want to cancel any previous runs, especially in the case of a "back to snapshots" build right after a release push
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index de2196f883..35f61bb7b2 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ ext {
 		nettyVersion = forceNettyVersion
 		println "Netty version defined from command line: ${forceNettyVersion}"
 	}
-	nettyContribVersion = '5.0.0.Alpha2-SNAPSHOT'
+	nettyContribVersion = '5.0.0.Alpha2'
 	//nettyIoUringVersion = '0.0.15.Final'
 	//nettyQuicVersion = '0.0.30.Final'