Follow Rahul's advice on setup

app/build.gradle.kts

@@ -65,13 +65,6 @@ android {
     namespace = "com.google.samples.apps.nowinandroid"
 }
 
-// Ensure Baseline Profile is fresh for release builds.
-baselineProfile {
-    variants.getByName("release") {
-        automaticGenerationDuringBuild = true
-    }
-}
-
 dependencies {
     implementation(projects.feature.interests.api)
     implementation(projects.feature.interests.impl)
@@ -150,6 +143,11 @@ baselineProfile {
 
     // Make use of Dex Layout Optimizations via Startup Profiles
     dexLayoutOptimization = true
+
+    // Ensure Baseline Profile is fresh for release builds.
+    variants.create("release") {
+        automaticGenerationDuringBuild = true
+    }
 }
 
 dependencyGuard {