diff --git a/docker-compose.staging.yml b/docker-compose.staging.yml
index cfbc862..6a267f8 100644
--- a/docker-compose.staging.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.staging.yml
@@ -39,6 +39,12 @@ services:
       NTFY_TOPIC: ${NTFY_TOPIC:-}
       NTFY_TOKEN: ${NTFY_TOKEN:-}
     command: sh -c "npx prisma db push && node dist/index.js"
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "node", "-e", "const http = require('http'); http.get('http://localhost:5000/api/health', (res) => { process.exit(res.statusCode === 200 ? 0 : 1); }).on('error', () => process.exit(1));"]
+      interval: 15s
+      timeout: 5s
+      start_period: 60s
+      retries: 5
     depends_on:
       db:
         condition: service_healthy
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 7c4b62b..671d375 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@ services:
       NTFY_TOPIC: ${NTFY_TOPIC:-}
       NTFY_TOKEN: ${NTFY_TOKEN:-}
     command: sh -c "npx prisma db push && node dist/index.js"
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "node", "-e", "const http = require('http'); http.get('http://localhost:5000/api/health', (res) => { process.exit(res.statusCode === 200 ? 0 : 1); }).on('error', () => process.exit(1));"]
+      interval: 15s
+      timeout: 5s
+      start_period: 60s
+      retries: 5
     depends_on:
       db:
         condition: service_healthy
diff --git a/scripts/update-prod.sh b/scripts/update-prod.sh
index 5a769f3..25b1add 100755
--- a/scripts/update-prod.sh
+++ b/scripts/update-prod.sh
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/.." && pwd)"
 VERSION_FILE="$REPO_ROOT/VERSION"
 DEFAULT_VERSION="0.1.0.0"
-MAX_WAIT=35
+MAX_WAIT=90
 
 REMOTE_USER="${REMOTE_USER:-root}"
 
@@ -304,13 +304,19 @@ COUNTER=0
 IS_READY=false
 
 while [ $COUNTER -lt $MAX_WAIT ]; do
-  STATUS=$(docker inspect --format='{{.State.Health.Status}}' "$BACKEND_CONTAINER" 2>/dev/null)
+  STATUS=$(docker inspect --format='{{if .State.Health}}{{.State.Health.Status}}{{end}}' "$BACKEND_CONTAINER" 2>/dev/null || true)
 
   if [ "$STATUS" = "healthy" ]; then
     IS_READY=true
     break
   fi
 
+  # End-to-end fallback via frontend nginx (covers missing/stale container health state)
+  if curl -sf "http://127.0.0.1/api/health" | grep -q '"status":"ok"'; then
+    IS_READY=true
+    break
+  fi
+
   sleep 1
   COUNTER=$((COUNTER + 1))
   printf "."
diff --git a/scripts/update-staging.sh b/scripts/update-staging.sh
index 807e8a5..d695d8f 100755
--- a/scripts/update-staging.sh
+++ b/scripts/update-staging.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 # Backward-compatible wrapper — prefer: ./scripts/update-prod.sh -dest stage
 set -euo pipefail
+
+for arg in "$@"; do
+  case "$arg" in
+    -dest|-dest=*)
+      echo "Error: update-staging.sh always deploys to staging." >&2
+      echo "       Use ./scripts/update-prod.sh -dest prod for production." >&2
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 exec "$SCRIPT_DIR/update-prod.sh" -dest stage "$@"