diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 0f5cb7b..50332b7 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ verify_dev_deployment:
     MAX_RETRIES: 30
     RETRY_DELAY: 60
   before_script:
-    - apk add --no-cache curl
+    - apk add --no-cache curl git
     - pip install Pillow
   script:
     - echo "Waiting for dev.libravatar.org deployment to complete..."
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ verify_prod_deployment:
     MAX_RETRIES: 10
     RETRY_DELAY: 30
   before_script:
-    - apk add --no-cache curl
+    - apk add --no-cache curl git
     - pip install Pillow
   script:
     - echo "Verifying production deployment..."
diff --git a/scripts/check_deployment.py b/scripts/check_deployment.py
index becb750..06e4136 100755
--- a/scripts/check_deployment.py
+++ b/scripts/check_deployment.py
@@ -427,13 +427,21 @@ def test_deployment(
                         )
                         version_ok = False
                     else:
+                        # Git comparison failed - use simple string comparison as fallback
                         colored_print(
-                            "⚠️  Warning: Could not determine version relationship",
+                            "⚠️  Git comparison failed - using string comparison fallback",
+                            Colors.YELLOW,
+                        )
+                        
+                        # If commits are different, assume we need to wait
+                        # This is safer than proceeding with wrong version
+                        colored_print(
+                            f"⚠️  Deployed version ({deployed_commit[:8]}) differs from expected ({current_commit[:8]})",
                             Colors.YELLOW,
                         )
                         colored_print(
-                            "This might be due to shallow git clone in CI - treating as version mismatch",
-                            Colors.YELLOW,
+                            f"Waiting for deployment to update... (attempt {attempt}/{max_retries})",
+                            Colors.BLUE,
                         )
                         version_ok = False