diff --git a/scripts/deploy.sh b/scripts/deploy.sh
index 17dd28d..7aecb6c 100755
--- a/scripts/deploy.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy.sh
@@ -62,10 +62,18 @@ for dir in $dirs; do
   docker compose config --quiet
 
   if grep -qE '^[[:space:]]*build:' docker-compose.yml; then
-    docker compose up -d --build --remove-orphans
+    docker compose up -d --build --remove-orphans || {
+      echo "==> up --build failed, tearing down and retrying"
+      docker compose down --remove-orphans 2>/dev/null || true
+      docker compose up -d --build --remove-orphans
+    }
   else
     docker compose pull
-    docker compose up -d --remove-orphans
+    docker compose up -d --remove-orphans || {
+      echo "==> up failed, tearing down and retrying"
+      docker compose down --remove-orphans 2>/dev/null || true
+      docker compose up -d --remove-orphans
+    }
   fi
 
   # Health check: give containers a moment, then fail on crashed services