diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 0c8c4490..b180512a 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -26,11 +26,9 @@ FROM richarvey/nginx-php-fpm:3.1.6 AS app
 ENV APP_ENV production
 ENV APP_DEBUG false
 ENV LOG_CHANNEL stderr
-ENV APP_KEY ${APP_KEY} # Will be provided by Render's environment
-
-# Configure richarvey/nginx-php-fpm specific settings
-ENV SKIP_COMPOSER 1 # We run composer via the deploy script
-ENV WEBROOT /var/www/html/public # Laravel's public directory
+ENV APP_KEY ${APP_KEY} 
+ENV SKIP_COMPOSER 1 
+ENV WEBROOT /var/www/html/public 
 ENV PHP_ERRORS_STDERR 1 # Send PHP errors to stderr for Docker logging
 ENV RUN_SCRIPTS 1 # Enable execution of scripts in /scripts directory
 ENV REAL_IP_HEADER 1 # If behind a proxy, trust X-Forwarded-For
diff --git a/render.yaml b/render.yaml
index 3318b9e4..76775e1b 100644
--- a/render.yaml
+++ b/render.yaml
@@ -77,10 +77,10 @@ services:
       - key: MAIL_FROM_NAME
         value: "${APP_NAME}"
 
-    # Start command: runs our deploy script, then starts the main services.
-    # Assumes the base Docker image (ric_harvey/nginx-php-fpm) has /start.sh as its CMD,
-    # which typically runs supervisord to manage Nginx and PHP-FPM.
-    startCommand: "/usr/local/bin/deploy.sh && /start.sh"
+    # Start command: The Docker image's CMD ["/start.sh"] will be used by default.
+    # The /start.sh script from richarvey/nginx-php-fpm will execute our /scripts/00-laravel-deploy.sh
+    # (because ENV RUN_SCRIPTS 1 is set) and then start Nginx & PHP-FPM.
+    # Thus, no explicit startCommand override is needed here.
 
     # Persistent disk for Laravel storage
     disk: # Valid per serverService schema, referencing "disk" definition