Invalid plugin descriptor 'description'

When trying to run most IntelliJ gradle tasks I get this error: 

Invalid plugin descriptor 'description'. The plugin description is shorter than 40 characters and/or the plugin description contains non-Latin characters.

This is my build.gradle.kts:

fun properties(key: String) = project.findProperty(key).toString()
plugins {
    id("java")
    id("idea")
    id("org.jetbrains.intellij") version "1.17.1"
    id("org.jetbrains.changelog") version "2.1.2"
}

group = properties("pluginGroup")
version = properties("pluginVersion")

dependencies {

    implementation("com.google.guava:guava:31.1-jre")
    implementation("org.apache.commons:commons-text:1.9")

    testRuntimeOnly("org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-engine:5.8.2")
    testImplementation("org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-api:5.8.2")
}

intellij {
    pluginName.set(properties("pluginName"))
    version.set(properties("platformVersion"))
    type.set(properties("platformType"))
    downloadSources.set(properties("platformDownloadSources").toBoolean())
    updateSinceUntilBuild.set(true)

    plugins.set(
        listOf(
            "java", "maven"
        )
    )
}



tasks {

    patchPluginXml {
        version.set(properties("pluginVersion"))
        sinceBuild.set(properties("pluginSinceBuild"))
        pluginDescription.set("A description that is at least 40 characters long")
        untilBuild.set(properties("pluginUntilBuild"))
    }

    // Set the JVM compatibility versions
    properties("javaVersion").let {
        withType<JavaCompile> {
            sourceCompatibility = it
            targetCompatibility = it
        }
    }
}

changelog {
    version.set(properties("pluginVersion"))
    groups.set(emptyList())
}
 

and this an excerpt of my plugin.xml:

<idea-plugin>
    <description>A description that is at least 40 characters long</description>

</idea-plugin>

The description in the xml should not matter, I guess. Nowhere in my code do I have the string “description” so I have no idea where the plugin takes that from.