diff --git a/cinny/lotus_deploy.sh b/cinny/lotus_deploy.sh
index 1d84d8a..e1badb8 100755
--- a/cinny/lotus_deploy.sh
+++ b/cinny/lotus_deploy.sh
@@ -54,6 +54,19 @@ if [ -n "${GITEA_API_TOKEN:-}" ]; then
     echo "[$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')] Waiting for CI '$GATE_CONTEXT' on $COMMIT_SHA..."
 
     while [ "$elapsed" -lt "$MAX_WAIT" ]; do
+        # Follow origin/lotus. A newer push supersedes ours — with CI
+        # cancel-in-progress its run is CANCELLED (reported error/failure), and a
+        # newer deploy is skipped by our flock — so polling the latched (now
+        # cancelled) SHA would abort and strand the newest commit undeployed.
+        # Re-resolve HEAD each iteration and retarget the gate if it advanced,
+        # giving the fresh commit a full MAX_WAIT window.
+        git fetch --quiet origin lotus 2>/dev/null || true
+        newest=$(git rev-parse origin/lotus 2>/dev/null || echo "$COMMIT_SHA")
+        if [ "$newest" != "$COMMIT_SHA" ]; then
+            echo "[$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')] origin/lotus advanced ${COMMIT_SHA:0:8} -> ${newest:0:8}; retargeting CI gate."
+            COMMIT_SHA="$newest"
+            elapsed=0
+        fi
         state=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_API_TOKEN" \
             "$GITEA_API/repos/$REPO_PATH/commits/$COMMIT_SHA/status" \
             | GATE="$GATE_CONTEXT" python3 -c "
@@ -72,7 +85,23 @@ else:
 
         case "$state" in
             success)        ci_result=success; break ;;
-            failure|error)  ci_result="$state"; break ;;
+            failure|error)
+                # Before aborting: a superseded run reports its status as
+                # error/failure (cancel-in-progress). If a fetch blip on the
+                # retarget iteration left us on a stale SHA, re-check HEAD — if it
+                # advanced, follow it and keep waiting rather than aborting on a
+                # commit that a newer push already replaced. Only a genuine
+                # failure of the CURRENT HEAD aborts the deploy.
+                git fetch --quiet origin lotus 2>/dev/null || true
+                head_now=$(git rev-parse origin/lotus 2>/dev/null || echo "$COMMIT_SHA")
+                if [ "$head_now" != "$COMMIT_SHA" ]; then
+                    echo "[$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')] gated ${COMMIT_SHA:0:8} reported ${state}, but origin/lotus advanced to ${head_now:0:8}; retargeting."
+                    COMMIT_SHA="$head_now"
+                    elapsed=0
+                else
+                    ci_result="$state"; break
+                fi
+                ;;
         esac
         echo "[$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')] CI not yet passed (${elapsed}s elapsed, '$GATE_CONTEXT': ${state}), waiting..."
         sleep "$POLL_INTERVAL"
@@ -88,7 +117,10 @@ else
     echo "[$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')] WARNING: GITEA_API_TOKEN not set, deploying without CI gate."
 fi
 
-git reset --hard origin/lotus
+# Reset to the exact commit we gated on (which the poll loop keeps in step with
+# origin/lotus), not a bare origin/lotus that may have advanced past the gate
+# after the loop exited — so we deploy precisely what passed CI.
+git reset --hard "$COMMIT_SHA"
 
 # Tag this build with the exact commit so Sentry can link errors to source
 export VITE_APP_VERSION=$COMMIT_SHA