diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy-lib.sh b/.gitea/workflows/deploy-lib.sh
index 784a4d4..e89b349 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy-lib.sh
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy-lib.sh
@@ -588,6 +588,28 @@ recover_pending_release() {
   return 0
 }
 
+# wait_for_calm <stage>
+# The deploy itself is heavy enough to melt this single node (helm churn plus
+# apply churn drove load past 40, killed netbird/ssh, left helm pending-*).
+# Never pile a heavy step onto an already-hot node: wait up to 10 minutes for
+# the 1-minute load average to drop below the ceiling, then proceed anyway
+# with a warning so a permanently busy node cannot wedge the pipeline forever.
+wait_for_calm() {
+  local load waited=0
+  while [ "$waited" -lt 600 ]; do
+    load="$(cut -d' ' -f1 /proc/loadavg | cut -d. -f1)"
+    if [ "$load" -lt 28 ]; then
+      return 0
+    fi
+    if [ "$((waited % 60))" -eq 0 ]; then
+      log "$1: load $load, waiting for calm (<28)..."
+    fi
+    sleep 15
+    waited=$((waited + 15))
+  done
+  echo "WARN: $1: node still loaded ($load) after 10m, proceeding anyway"
+}
+
 upgrade_helm_releases() {
   local entry release chart namespace version values marker repo
   for entry in ${HELM_RELEASES[@]+"${HELM_RELEASES[@]}"}; do
@@ -608,6 +630,7 @@ upgrade_helm_releases() {
     helm repo add "${repo%% *}" "${repo#* }" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
     helm repo update "${repo%% *}" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
     log "Upgrading $release ($chart $version)"
+    wait_for_calm "helm $release"
     # A previous run with --rollback-on-failure whose own rollback never finished leaves the
     # release in pending-*, which blocks every future upgrade. Recover first
     # so one wedged revision cannot wedge the pipeline forever.
@@ -763,6 +786,7 @@ stage_apply_k8s() {
     fi
   fi
   upgrade_helm_releases
+  wait_for_calm "apply resources"
   if [ "${#other_files[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
     log "Applying resources (${#other_files[@]} files, our images pinned to digests)"
     for m in "${other_files[@]}"; do
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ssh-run.sh b/.gitea/workflows/ssh-run.sh
index f74f350..b8396cb 100755
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ssh-run.sh
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ssh-run.sh
@@ -36,6 +36,17 @@ ssh_opts=(
 )
 
 rc=0
+# apply-k8s and apply-compose are separate workflow jobs so the graph stays
+# intact for the verify job, but on a single node they must not run at once:
+# host docker churn on top of cluster churn is what melts the node (load 40+,
+# netbird/ssh die, helm is left pending-*). Serialize them on the workstation
+# with a shared lock; whoever arrives second waits.
+remote_cmd=(bash -se)
+case "$1" in
+  apply-k8s | apply-compose)
+    remote_cmd=(flock -w 5400 /tmp/homelab-apply.lock bash -se)
+    ;;
+esac
 for attempt in 1 2 3; do
   if [ "$attempt" -gt 1 ]; then
     echo ":: warning::ssh transport failed, retrying (${attempt}/3)"
@@ -45,7 +56,7 @@ for attempt in 1 2 3; do
   ssh "${ssh_opts[@]}" "${DEPLOY_USER}@${DEPLOY_HOST}" \
     env "REPO=$deploy_path" "APPLY_PRUNE=${APPLY_PRUNE:-false}" \
     "DEPLOY_SHA=${DEPLOY_SHA:-}" "DEPLOY_SNAPSHOT_DIR=${DEPLOY_SNAPSHOT_DIR:-}" \
-    "STAGE=$1" bash -se <<'EOF' || rc=$?
+    "STAGE=$1" "${remote_cmd[@]}" <<'EOF' || rc=$?
 source "$REPO/.gitea/workflows/deploy-lib.sh"
 run_stage "$STAGE"
 EOF