diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
index 48af1c7..5aee9ad 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -28,6 +28,14 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           APP_DIR=/home/tyler/route-commerce
           mkdir -p $APP_DIR
+          # Free port 3001 if anything is still on it (stale container, leftover dev process)
+          if ss -tln 2>/dev/null | grep -q ':3001 '; then
+            echo "Port 3001 in use, attempting to free it..."
+            fuser -k 3001/tcp 2>/dev/null || true
+            docker ps -aq --filter "publish=3001" 2>/dev/null | xargs -r docker rm -f 2>/dev/null || true
+            docker compose -f $APP_DIR/docker-compose.yml down --remove-orphans 2>/dev/null || true
+            sleep 3
+          fi
           # Seed config files into APP_DIR if missing (they live in the repo, not in APP_DIR)
           [ -f $APP_DIR/.env.example ] || cp .env.example $APP_DIR/.env.example
           [ -f $APP_DIR/docker-compose.yml ] || cp docker-compose.yml $APP_DIR/docker-compose.yml