diff --git a/.mokogitea/workflows/custom/deploy-dev.yml b/.mokogitea/workflows/custom/deploy-dev.yml
index 106c882eb0..609227ee44 100644
--- a/.mokogitea/workflows/custom/deploy-dev.yml
+++ b/.mokogitea/workflows/custom/deploy-dev.yml
@@ -97,7 +97,14 @@ jobs:
           echo 'Restarting dev container...'
           cd /opt/gitea-dev
           sed -i "s|${{ env.IMAGE }}:[^ ]*|${{ env.IMAGE }}:$TAG|" docker-compose.yml
-          docker compose up -d mokogitea-dev
+          # The dev service uses a fixed container_name (mokogitea-dev). If a
+          # container with that name lingers under a different/none compose
+          # project (the symlinked /opt/gitea-dev path makes the derived project
+          # name unstable), `compose up` fails with a name conflict instead of
+          # recreating. Remove any such container first so the name is free, pin
+          # the project name for determinism, then force a fresh recreate.
+          docker rm -f mokogitea-dev 2>/dev/null || true
+          docker compose -p gitea-dev up -d --force-recreate mokogitea-dev
 
           echo 'Health check...'
           for i in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8; do