diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
index 1b508ac..382a6b0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -162,18 +162,9 @@ jobs:
           # join@ connection would register the connecting key as a new account,
           # so we never complete a handshake here. Admin OpenSSH lives on the
           # admin port, so anything serving :22 is agentbbs answering join@/bbs@.
-          #
-          # Retry: the redeploy above restarts agentbbs, and this step can start
-          # before it has re-bound :22. A single probe failed most deploys
-          # (red runs with the BBS answering fine moments later), so give it
-          # up to ~2 minutes and fail only if it never comes back.
-          for attempt in $(seq 1 12); do
-            if timeout 15 ssh-keyscan -T 10 -p 22 "$DEPLOY_HOST" 2>/dev/null | grep -q .; then
-              echo "::notice::agentbbs is serving SSH on ${DEPLOY_HOST}:22 (join@ is reachable, attempt ${attempt})"
-              exit 0
-            fi
-            echo "attempt ${attempt}/12: nothing on ${DEPLOY_HOST}:22 yet, retrying in 10s"
-            sleep 10
-          done
-          echo "::error::nothing is serving SSH on ${DEPLOY_HOST}:22 after 12 attempts — agentbbs may be down"
-          exit 1
+          if timeout 15 ssh-keyscan -T 10 -p 22 "$DEPLOY_HOST" 2>/dev/null | grep -q .; then
+            echo "::notice::agentbbs is serving SSH on ${DEPLOY_HOST}:22 (join@ is reachable)"
+          else
+            echo "::error::nothing is serving SSH on ${DEPLOY_HOST}:22 — agentbbs may be down"
+            exit 1
+          fi