diff --git a/update_semaphore.yml b/update_semaphore.yml
index 8123916..22bae85 100644
--- a/update_semaphore.yml
+++ b/update_semaphore.yml
@@ -128,10 +128,7 @@
           - "{{ semaphore_compose_filename }}"
         pull: always
 
-    # Cannot use docker_compose_v2 here: recreating the container kills this
-    # very Ansible process. Detached so the update outlives the job.
-    # No `recreate: always` — compose recreates only when the image or the
-    # resolved config actually changed, so unchanged runs finish green.
+
     - name: Recreate Semaphore in the background
       ansible.builtin.shell: |
         cat > "{{ compose_remote_base }}/semaphore-selfupdate.sh" <<'SH'
@@ -139,15 +136,19 @@
         set -uo pipefail
         exec 2>&1
         cd "{{ compose_remote_dir }}" || exit 1
+        COMPOSE=(docker compose -p "{{ semaphore_project }}" -f "{{ semaphore_compose_filename }}")
         echo "=== $(date -Is) update starting ==="
-        docker compose -p "{{ semaphore_project }}" \
-          -f "{{ semaphore_compose_filename }}" \
-          up -d --remove-orphans --wait --wait-timeout 300
+        "${COMPOSE[@]}" pull || { echo "FAIL: pull failed" >&2; exit 1; }
+        "${COMPOSE[@]}" up -d --remove-orphans --wait --wait-timeout 300
         for _ in $(seq 1 60); do
           code=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' \
             "http://127.0.0.1:{{ semaphore_port }}/api/ping" || true)
           if [ "$code" = "200" ]; then
-            docker logs --tail 40 "{{ semaphore_container }}" 2>&1 \
+            echo "image: $(docker inspect "{{ semaphore_container }}" \
+              --format '{{ '{{' }}.Config.Image{{ '}}' }}')"
+            # --tail 40 misses the startup line when the container was not
+            # recreated; grep the whole log instead
+            docker logs "{{ semaphore_container }}" 2>&1 \
               | grep -m1 'SQLite @' || echo "WARN: no 'SQLite @' line"
             echo "OK: semaphore healthy at $(date -Is)"
             exit 0