diff --git a/.github/workflows/slack-release-notification.yml b/.github/workflows/slack-release-notification.yml
index 141a4ae700..8ba36007ab 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/slack-release-notification.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/slack-release-notification.yml
@@ -6,15 +6,18 @@ on:
       types: [ published ]
 
 jobs:
-  slackNotification:
-    name: Slack Notification
+  my-job:
+    name: Slack notification
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
-    - name: Slack Notification
-      uses: rtCamp/action-slack-notify@v2
-      with:
-        release-name: ${{ github.event.release.name }}
-        release-body: ${{ github.event.release.body }}
-      env:
-        SLACK_WEBHOOK: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
\ No newline at end of file
+      - name: Send release notification data to Slack workflow
+        id: slack
+        uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1.22.0
+        with:
+          payload: |
+            {
+              "release-name": "${{ github.event.release.name }}",
+              "release-url" : "${{ github.event.release.html_url }}"
+            }
+        env:
+          SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL }}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/eventsourcing/src/main/java/org/axonframework/eventsourcing/eventstore/AbstractEventStorageEngine.java b/eventsourcing/src/main/java/org/axonframework/eventsourcing/eventstore/AbstractEventStorageEngine.java
index b373e8fc2f..d4a1be403d 100644
--- a/eventsourcing/src/main/java/org/axonframework/eventsourcing/eventstore/AbstractEventStorageEngine.java
+++ b/eventsourcing/src/main/java/org/axonframework/eventsourcing/eventstore/AbstractEventStorageEngine.java
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 
 package org.axonframework.eventsourcing.eventstore;
 
-import com.thoughtworks.xstream.XStream;
 import org.axonframework.common.AxonConfigurationException;
 import org.axonframework.common.jdbc.PersistenceExceptionResolver;
 import org.axonframework.eventhandling.DomainEventData;
@@ -31,7 +30,6 @@
 import org.axonframework.serialization.Serializer;
 import org.axonframework.serialization.upcasting.event.EventUpcaster;
 import org.axonframework.serialization.upcasting.event.NoOpEventUpcaster;
-import org.axonframework.serialization.xml.CompactDriver;
 import org.axonframework.serialization.xml.XStreamSerializer;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -366,9 +364,7 @@ protected void validate() throws AxonConfigurationException {
                                         + " without specifying the security context"
                         )
                 );
-                snapshotSerializer = () -> XStreamSerializer.builder()
-                                                            .xStream(new XStream(new CompactDriver()))
-                                                            .build();
+                snapshotSerializer = () -> XStreamSerializer.builder().build();
             }
             if (eventSerializer == null) {
                 logger.warn(
@@ -379,9 +375,7 @@ protected void validate() throws AxonConfigurationException {
                                         + " without specifying the security context"
                         )
                 );
-                eventSerializer = () -> XStreamSerializer.builder()
-                                                         .xStream(new XStream(new CompactDriver()))
-                                                         .build();
+                eventSerializer = () -> XStreamSerializer.builder().build();
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/messaging/src/main/java/org/axonframework/serialization/AbstractXStreamSerializer.java b/messaging/src/main/java/org/axonframework/serialization/AbstractXStreamSerializer.java
index d1369394f6..c1a4be903b 100644
--- a/messaging/src/main/java/org/axonframework/serialization/AbstractXStreamSerializer.java
+++ b/messaging/src/main/java/org/axonframework/serialization/AbstractXStreamSerializer.java
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ private String typeIdentifierOf(Class<?> type) {
      */
     public abstract static class Builder {
 
-        private XStream xStream;
+        protected XStream xStream;
         private Charset charset = StandardCharsets.UTF_8;
         private RevisionResolver revisionResolver = new AnnotationRevisionResolver();
         private Converter converter = new ChainingConverter();
diff --git a/messaging/src/main/java/org/axonframework/serialization/xml/XStreamSerializer.java b/messaging/src/main/java/org/axonframework/serialization/xml/XStreamSerializer.java
index b1a8247f0b..e1ea3ddc59 100644
--- a/messaging/src/main/java/org/axonframework/serialization/xml/XStreamSerializer.java
+++ b/messaging/src/main/java/org/axonframework/serialization/xml/XStreamSerializer.java
@@ -222,6 +222,9 @@ public Builder disableAxonTypeSecurity() {
          * @return a {@link XStreamSerializer} as specified through this Builder
          */
         public XStreamSerializer build() {
+            if (xStream == null) {
+                xStream = new XStream(new CompactDriver());
+            }
             return new XStreamSerializer(this);
         }
     }
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index c2ada91383..77e5c021b4 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -74,9 +74,10 @@
         </sonar.coverage.jacoco.xmlReportPaths>
 
         <!-- dependency versions -->
+
         <slf4j.version>2.0.0</slf4j.version>
         <log4j.version>2.18.0</log4j.version>
-        <spring.version>5.3.22</spring.version>
+        <spring.version>5.3.23</spring.version>
         <spring-security.version>5.7.3</spring-security.version>
         <spring.boot.version>2.7.2</spring.boot.version>
         <mockito.version>4.8.0</mockito.version>