diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index e77ee55..c45349c 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -137,7 +137,6 @@ runs:
 
         case "$DT" in
           static)
-            docker rm -f "$SLUG" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true   # in case it was previously a container deploy
             echo "::group::build (bun)"
             BH="build-${SLUG}-${SHA}"
             docker rm -f "$BH" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
@@ -163,6 +162,10 @@ runs:
             echo "::endgroup::"
 
             write_fragment "$(printf '%s {\n\troot * /srv/sites/%s\n\tfile_server\n\ttry_files {path} /index.html\n}\n' "$SITE_ADDR" "$DOMAIN")"
+            # Remove any prior container LAST — zero-downtime: a pre-existing
+            # container kept serving the domain (via its old fragment) all through
+            # the build above, until the file_server fragment took over just now.
+            docker rm -f "$SLUG" >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo "  removed old container (switched to static)" || true
             ;;
 
           docker|docker-db)