diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yaml b/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yaml
index 4b51b76..bfe465b 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -134,7 +134,9 @@ jobs:
           FLATPAK_GPG_KEY_ID=$(cat /run/crafter-flatpak/key-id)
           # The live repo is the canonical copy; builds are promoted into it,
           # never built into it.
-          [ -d "$REPO_DIR" ] || ostree init --repo="$REPO_DIR" --mode=archive
+          # Keyed on the repo's config file, not the directory: the web root
+          # may exist as an empty directory before the first publish.
+          [ -f "$REPO_DIR/config" ] || ostree init --repo="$REPO_DIR" --mode=archive
           flatpak build-commit-from --src-repo=repo \
             --gpg-sign="$FLATPAK_GPG_KEY_ID" --gpg-homedir="$GNUPGHOME" \
             "$REPO_DIR" "app/$APP_ID/x86_64/${{ steps.meta.outputs.branch }}"