diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci-deploy.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci-deploy.yml
index 494e48b..9a0d2ce 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci-deploy.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci-deploy.yml
@@ -143,7 +143,23 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Test browser smoke flows
         working-directory: job-tracker-ui
-        run: npm run test:e2e
+        # This self-hosted runner has twice corrupted Playwright's installed JS/browser
+        # payload (invalid control bytes followed by SIGSEGV/139). Retry the complete
+        # suite once from a verified, clean install. The retry is intentionally bounded;
+        # a genuine or repeated browser-test failure still blocks deployment.
+        run: |
+          if npm run test:e2e; then
+            exit 0
+          else
+            smoke_status=$?
+          fi
+
+          echo "Browser smoke failed ($smoke_status) — rebuilding the browser runtime and retrying once..."
+          rm -rf node_modules
+          npm cache verify
+          npm ci --no-audit --no-fund --prefer-online
+          npx playwright install --with-deps --force chromium
+          npm run test:e2e
 
       - name: Build frontend
         working-directory: job-tracker-ui