diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy-dev.yml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy-dev.yml
index 47460b8..be5e090 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy-dev.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy-dev.yml
@@ -235,17 +235,47 @@ jobs:
             docker network create nas-dashboard_internal
           fi
 
-          # Create compose override with network_mode: none (Docker 24 compose
-          # fails to create containers when it can't connect external networks).
-          # We connect networks manually after container creation.
-          echo 'services:' > /tmp/docker-compose.ci-override.yml
-          echo '  dashboard-dev:' >> /tmp/docker-compose.ci-override.yml
-          echo '    network_mode: "none"' >> /tmp/docker-compose.ci-override.yml
+          # Docker 24 compose fails when it can't connect external networks
+          # during container creation. Try compose first; if the container
+          # isn't created, strip networks from the resolved config via
+          # docker compose config output (processed with Python json).
+          docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml -p nas-dashboard-dev up -d --pull never 2>&1 || true
 
-          # Deploy without networks in compose
-          docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml -f /tmp/docker-compose.ci-override.yml -p nas-dashboard-dev up -d --pull never
+          if ! docker inspect nas-dashboard-dev >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "Compose failed to create container, stripping networks from config..."
+            docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml config --format json 2>/dev/null | python3 -c "
+import json, sys
+cfg = json.load(sys.stdin)
+cfg['services']['dashboard-dev']['networks'] = {}
+cfg['networks'] = {}
+with open('/tmp/no-network.yml', 'w') as f:
+    for k, v in cfg.items():
+        if k == 'services':
+            f.write('services:\n')
+            for svc, svc_cfg in v.items():
+                f.write(f'  {svc}:\n')
+                for sk, sv in svc_cfg.items():
+                    if sk == 'networks':
+                        continue
+                    elif isinstance(sv, dict):
+                        f.write(f'    {sk}:\n')
+                        for dk, dv in sv.items():
+                            f.write(f'      {dk}: {json.dumps(dv) if not isinstance(dv, str) else dv}\n')
+                    elif isinstance(sv, list):
+                        f.write(f'    {sk}:\n')
+                        for e in sv:
+                            f.write(f'      {json.dumps(e) if not isinstance(e, str) else e}\n')
+                    else:
+                        f.write(f'    {sk}: {json.dumps(sv) if not isinstance(sv, str) else sv}\n')
+        elif k == 'networks':
+            continue
+        else:
+            f.write(f'{k}: {json.dumps(v) if not isinstance(v, str) else v}\n')
+"
+            docker compose -f /tmp/no-network.yml -p nas-dashboard-dev up -d --pull never
+          fi
 
-          # Manually connect to networks after container is created
+          # Connect networks after container is created (idempotent)
           docker network connect nas-dashboard_internal nas-dashboard-dev 2>/dev/null || true
           docker network connect gitea_gitea nas-dashboard-dev 2>/dev/null || true