diff --git a/hlrs-plumbing/scripts/xx_populate_release_directory.sh b/hlrs-plumbing/scripts/xx_populate_release_directory.sh
index 9b723ef..1d5e0c0 100755
--- a/hlrs-plumbing/scripts/xx_populate_release_directory.sh
+++ b/hlrs-plumbing/scripts/xx_populate_release_directory.sh
@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@ _HLRS_SPACK_CONFIG_REPO=file://$HOME/spack-test/dummy_repo/hlrs-spack.git
 
 # bootstrap staging area
 log "setup staging area at:"
-staging_dir=$(mktemp -d)/staging 
+tmp_dir=$(mktemp -d)
+staging_dir=$tmp_dir/staging 
 log "    $staging_dir"
 
 # bootstrap plumbing directory
@@ -144,4 +145,10 @@ final_release_root=$(create_dir $HLRS_SOFTWARE_STACK_RELEASE_ROOT)
 mv $staging_release_root/{*,.git} $final_release_root
 
 
-## TODO: remove staging dir
+## TODO: remove temporary dir
+log "Cleaning up ..."
+rm -rf $tmp_dir
+
+## DONE!!
+log "DONE populating release directory" 
+log "    $HLRS_SOFTWARE_STACK_RELEASE_ROOT"
\ No newline at end of file