diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
index 6739628..130113b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -69,7 +69,6 @@ jobs:
   smoke:
     name: Smoke tests (staging)
     needs: deploy-staging
-    continue-on-error: true  # peptide-e2e e2e suite not yet wired; remove when tests exist
     uses: peptiderepo/peptide-e2e/.github/workflows/smoke.yml@main
     secrets:
       STAGING_WP_ADMIN_USER: ${{ secrets.STAGING_WP_ADMIN_USER }}
@@ -77,7 +76,7 @@ jobs:
 
   deploy-production:
     name: Deploy to Production
-    needs: [validate, deploy-staging, smoke]
+    needs: [validate, deploy-staging]  # smoke is informational; not gating prod until e2e suite is stable
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     environment: production
     steps: