diff --git a/ci/scripts/deploy-new-tags.sh b/ci/scripts/deploy-new-tags.sh
index 9d321bb..a3ab999 100755
--- a/ci/scripts/deploy-new-tags.sh
+++ b/ci/scripts/deploy-new-tags.sh
@@ -1,33 +1,45 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
 
-# Get the directory where the script is located
-SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
-DEPLOY_DIR="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/../deploy" && pwd)"
+# Setup paths relative to the script location
+DEPLOY_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../deploy" && pwd)"
+ENV_FILE="$DEPLOY_DIR/.env"
+TEMPLATE_FILE="$DEPLOY_DIR/.env.template"
 
 echo "Starting deployment for com-ermnvldmr..."
 
-# Export current tags if they exist in .env to ensure continuity for services NOT being updated
-if [ -f "$DEPLOY_DIR/.env" ]; then
-    export $(grep -v '^#' "$DEPLOY_DIR/.env" | xargs)
+# 1. Load existing .env values as defaults (do NOT overwrite environment variables)
+if [ -f "$ENV_FILE" ]; then
+    while IFS= read -r line || [ -n "$line" ]; do
+        # Skip comments and empty lines
+        [[ "$line" =~ ^# ]] || [[ -z "$line" ]] && continue
+        
+        key="${line%%=*}"
+        val="${line#*=}"
+        
+        # Only export if the variable is not already set in the environment
+        if [ -z "${!key}" ]; then
+            export "$key"="$val"
+        fi
+    done < "$ENV_FILE"
 fi
 
-# Override with new tags provided via env (passed from GitHub)
-# The variables DOCS_TAG and WWW_TAG should already be in the environment
-export DOCS_TAG=${DOCS_TAG:-latest}
-export WWW_TAG=${WWW_TAG:-latest}
+# 2. Apply final fallback defaults
+export DOCS_TAG="${DOCS_TAG:-latest}"
+export WWW_TAG="${WWW_TAG:-latest}"
 
-# Generate new .env from template
+# 3. Generate the .env file from template
+# Explicitly list variables to substitute to avoid messing with other values
 echo "Generating .env from template..."
-envsubst < "$DEPLOY_DIR/.env.template" > "$DEPLOY_DIR/.env"
+envsubst '$DOCS_TAG $WWW_TAG' < "$TEMPLATE_FILE" > "$ENV_FILE"
 
-# Run Docker Compose
+# 4. Run Docker operations
 cd "$DEPLOY_DIR"
 echo "Pulling images..."
 docker compose pull
 
 echo "Starting containers..."
-docker compose up --force-recreate --build -d --remove-orphans
+docker compose up -d --remove-orphans
 
 echo "Pruning unused images..."
 docker image prune -f