diff --git a/infra/start.sh b/infra/start.sh
index 446cd26..5847040 100755
--- a/infra/start.sh
+++ b/infra/start.sh
@@ -177,8 +177,9 @@ for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do
 done
 [ -S "$PODMAN_SOCK" ] || { echo "ERROR: Podman socket did not appear"; exit 1; }
 
-# ── Build images ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# ── Build images (while the old stack is still running) ───────────────────────
 make -C "$SCRIPT_DIR" build
 
-# ── Start services (detached) ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# ── Swap to new images (brief downtime starts here) ────────────────────────────
+podman compose --env-file "$REPO_ROOT/.env" -f "$SCRIPT_DIR/docker-compose.yml" down
 podman compose --env-file "$REPO_ROOT/.env" -f "$SCRIPT_DIR/docker-compose.yml" up -d