diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish.yaml b/.github/workflows/publish.yaml
index 1e53ddd..8376635 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish.yaml
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@ jobs:
       - name: Set CPM version by tag
         run: |
           mkdir dist
-          sed -e "s/1.0.0-development-version/${GITHUB_REF/refs\/tags\//v}/g" cmake/CPM.cmake > dist/CPM.cmake
-          sed -e "s/1.0.0-development-version/${GITHUB_REF/refs\/tags\//v}/g" \
-              -e "s/EMPTY_HASH_SUM/$(sha256sum cmake/CPM.cmake | cut -d' ' -f1)/" cmake/get_cpm.cmake > dist/get_cpm.cmake
+          sed -e "s/1.0.0-development-version/${GITHUB_REF/refs\/tags\/v}/g" cmake/CPM.cmake > dist/CPM.cmake
+          sed -e "s/1.0.0-development-version/${GITHUB_REF/refs\/tags\/v}/g" \
+              -e "s/CPM_HASH_SUM_PLACEHOLDER/$(sha256sum dist/CPM.cmake | cut -d' ' -f1)/" cmake/get_cpm.cmake > dist/get_cpm.cmake
 
       - name: Upload CPM.cmake to release
         uses: svenstaro/upload-release-action@v1-release
diff --git a/cmake/get_cpm.cmake b/cmake/get_cpm.cmake
index f56d803..3c73189 100644
--- a/cmake/get_cpm.cmake
+++ b/cmake/get_cpm.cmake
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2019-2023 Lars Melchior and contributors
 
 set(CPM_DOWNLOAD_VERSION 1.0.0-development-version)
-set(CPM_HASH_SUM "HASH_SUM_PLACEHOLDER")
+set(CPM_HASH_SUM "CPM_HASH_SUM_PLACEHOLDER")
 
 if(CPM_SOURCE_CACHE)
   set(CPM_DOWNLOAD_LOCATION "${CPM_SOURCE_CACHE}/cpm/CPM_${CPM_DOWNLOAD_VERSION}.cmake")
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ endif()
 # Expand relative path. This is important if the provided path contains a tilde (~)
 get_filename_component(CPM_DOWNLOAD_LOCATION ${CPM_DOWNLOAD_LOCATION} ABSOLUTE)
 
-message(STATUS "Downloading CPM.cmake to ${CPM_DOWNLOAD_LOCATION}")
+message(STATUS "Using CPM at ${CPM_DOWNLOAD_LOCATION}")
+
 file(
   DOWNLOAD
   https://github.com/cpm-cmake/CPM.cmake/releases/download/v${CPM_DOWNLOAD_VERSION}/CPM.cmake
@@ -24,12 +25,12 @@ file(
   STATUS CPM_DOWNLOAD_STATUS
   EXPECTED_HASH SHA256=${CPM_HASH_SUM}
 )
+
 list(GET CPM_DOWNLOAD_STATUS 0 CPM_DOWNLOAD_STATUS_CODE)
-list(GET CPM_DOWNLOAD_STATUS 1 CPM_DOWNLOAD_ERROR_MESSAGE)
-if(${CPM_DOWNLOAD_STATUS_CODE} EQUAL 0)
-  message(STATUS "CPM: Download completed successfully.")
-else()
-  message(FATAL_ERROR "CPM: Error occurred during download: ${CPM_DOWNLOAD_ERROR_MESSAGE}")
+if(NOT ${CPM_DOWNLOAD_STATUS_CODE} EQUAL 0)
+  # give a fatal error when download fails
+  list(GET CPM_DOWNLOAD_STATUS 1 CPM_DOWNLOAD_ERROR_MESSAGE)
+  message(FATAL_ERROR "Error occurred during download of CPM: ${CPM_DOWNLOAD_ERROR_MESSAGE}")
 endif()
 
 include(${CPM_DOWNLOAD_LOCATION})