diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
index 4be6714..7f149d0 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -96,43 +96,33 @@ jobs:
           chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
           printf '%s\n' "$SFTP_KNOWN_HOSTS" > ~/.ssh/known_hosts
           chmod 644 ~/.ssh/known_hosts
-          # Hetzner Webhosting accounts are SFTP-only — they accept SSH for file
-          # transfer but refuse remote command exec ("exec request failed on
-          # channel 0"). rsync over SSH needs to spawn a remote rsync binary,
-          # so it cannot work here. Use lftp's mirror instead, which speaks
-          # SFTP end-to-end with the same key + known_hosts pinning.
-          if ! command -v lftp >/dev/null 2>&1 || ! command -v ssh >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+          # Ensure rsync + openssh are present even on a minimal runner image.
+          if ! command -v rsync >/dev/null 2>&1 || ! command -v ssh >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             if command -v sudo >/dev/null 2>&1; then SUDO=sudo; else SUDO=; fi
             $SUDO apt-get update -qq
-            $SUDO apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends lftp openssh-client
+            $SUDO apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends rsync openssh-client
           fi
 
-      - name: Deploy via lftp (mirror over SFTP)
+      - name: Deploy via rsync
         env:
           SFTP_USER: ${{ secrets.SFTP_USER }}
           SFTP_HOST: ${{ secrets.SFTP_HOST }}
           SFTP_PATH: ${{ secrets.SFTP_PATH }}
         run: |
-          # Fail loudly if any secret is missing — otherwise mirror --delete
+          # Fail loudly if any secret is missing — otherwise rsync --delete
           # could be directed at the SSH user's home root.
           : "${SFTP_USER:?SFTP_USER secret must be set}"
           : "${SFTP_HOST:?SFTP_HOST secret must be set}"
           : "${SFTP_PATH:?SFTP_PATH secret must be set}"
-          # `-u USER,` (with trailing comma = empty password) tells lftp not
-          # to prompt for a password; auth happens via the key passed to ssh
-          # by sftp:connect-program. Heredoc body is unindented so lftp's
-          # parser doesn't mistake leading whitespace for a continuation.
-          # `debug 3` prints the ssh command lftp invokes — useful if this
-          # ever breaks again.
-          lftp <<LFTP
-          debug 3
-          set cmd:fail-exit yes
-          set net:max-retries 1
-          set sftp:connect-program 'ssh -a -x -i $HOME/.ssh/id_ed25519 -o StrictHostKeyChecking=yes -o UserKnownHostsFile=$HOME/.ssh/known_hosts'
-          open -u $SFTP_USER, sftp://$SFTP_HOST
-          mirror --reverse --delete --verbose --parallel=4 dist/ $SFTP_PATH/
-          bye
-          LFTP
+          # Hetzner Webhosting splits SSH into two ports:
+          #   port 22  — SFTP only, no remote command exec
+          #   port 222 — full SSH with shell exec (rsync needs this)
+          # `--rsync-path=/usr/bin/rsync` tells the local rsync where to find
+          # the remote binary on Hetzner's locked-down PATH.
+          # `BatchMode=yes` disables interactive prompts.
+          rsync -avz --delete --rsync-path=/usr/bin/rsync \
+            -e "ssh -p 222 -i $HOME/.ssh/id_ed25519 -o BatchMode=yes -o StrictHostKeyChecking=yes -o UserKnownHostsFile=$HOME/.ssh/known_hosts" \
+            dist/ "$SFTP_USER@$SFTP_HOST:$SFTP_PATH/"
 
       - name: Post-deploy smoke test
         run: |