diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1f125c2..de47e6c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -120,3 +120,4 @@ dagger-certs
 .viminfo
 /go
 .last_deployed_sha
+.fail_count
diff --git a/deploy_cron.py b/deploy_cron.py
index 89bb97e..1c50c91 100644
--- a/deploy_cron.py
+++ b/deploy_cron.py
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 """
 Cron deploy script for sharedinbox website.
-Runs every 15 minutes; skips if origin/main has not changed since last successful deploy.
-If last deploy failed and main still hasn't changed, creates a Codeberg issue.
+Runs every 5 minutes; skips if origin/main has not changed since last successful deploy.
+Gives up and creates a Codeberg issue after 5 consecutive failures on the same commit.
 """
 import subprocess
 import sys
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@ from pathlib import Path
 REPO_DIR = Path(__file__).parent.resolve()
 SHA_FILE        = REPO_DIR / '.last_deployed_sha'
 FAILED_SHA_FILE = REPO_DIR / '.last_failed_sha'
+FAIL_COUNT_FILE = REPO_DIR / '.fail_count'
 ERROR_FILE      = REPO_DIR / '.last_deploy_error'
 ISSUE_SHA_FILE  = REPO_DIR / '.last_issue_sha'
 
+MAX_FAILURES = 5
 REPO = 'guettli/sharedinbox'
 CODEBERG = 'https://codeberg.org'
 
@@ -30,24 +32,42 @@ def read(path: Path) -> str:
     return path.read_text().strip() if path.exists() else ''
 
 
-def create_issue(failed_sha: str) -> None:
+def read_int(path: Path) -> int:
+    try:
+        return int(read(path))
+    except ValueError:
+        return 0
+
+
+def issue_exists_for(sha: str) -> bool:
+    """Check Codeberg for an open issue referencing this commit SHA."""
+    result = subprocess.run(
+        ['tea', 'issue', 'list', '--repo', REPO, '--state', 'open',
+         '--limit', '50', '--output', 'simple'],
+        capture_output=True, text=True,
+    )
+    return sha[:8] in result.stdout
+
+
+def create_issue(failed_sha: str, fail_count: int) -> None:
     error_output = read(ERROR_FILE)
     tail = '\n'.join(error_output.splitlines()[-40:]) if error_output else '(no output captured)'
     commit_url = f'{CODEBERG}/{REPO}/commit/{failed_sha}'
     script_url = f'{CODEBERG}/{REPO}/src/branch/main/deploy_cron.py'
     timestamp = datetime.now(timezone.utc).strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M UTC')
 
-    title = f'Deploy failed on {failed_sha[:8]} — main needs a fix'
+    title = f'Deploy failed {fail_count}x on {failed_sha[:8]} — needs fix'
     body = f"""\
 ## Deploy failure — action needed
 
-The automated deploy cron has been failing on commit \
-[{failed_sha[:8]}]({commit_url}) and `main` has not advanced since the failure.
+The automated deploy cron failed **{fail_count} times** on commit \
+[{failed_sha[:8]}]({commit_url}) and has stopped retrying.
 
 | | |
 |---|---|
 | **Detected** | {timestamp} |
 | **Failing commit** | [{failed_sha}]({commit_url}) |
+| **Failures** | {fail_count} / {MAX_FAILURES} |
 | **Deploy script** | [deploy_cron.py]({script_url}) |
 | **Log file** | `~/si-deploy-cron/deploy.log` |
 
@@ -59,7 +79,7 @@ The automated deploy cron has been failing on commit \
 
 ### Next steps
 
-Push a fix to `main` — the cron runs every 15 min and will retry automatically.
+Push a fix to `main` — the cron (every 5 min) will retry automatically on the next commit.
 """
 
     result = subprocess.run(
@@ -82,22 +102,24 @@ def main():
 
     last_sha    = read(SHA_FILE)
     last_failed = read(FAILED_SHA_FILE)
+    fail_count  = read_int(FAIL_COUNT_FILE) if remote_sha == last_failed else 0
     last_issue  = read(ISSUE_SHA_FILE)
 
     if remote_sha == last_sha:
         print(f'No changes since {remote_sha[:8]}, skipping.')
         return
 
-    if remote_sha == last_failed:
-        if remote_sha != last_issue:
-            print(f'{remote_sha[:8]} failed before and main has not changed — creating issue.')
-            create_issue(remote_sha)
+    if fail_count >= MAX_FAILURES:
+        if remote_sha != last_issue and not issue_exists_for(remote_sha):
+            print(f'{remote_sha[:8]} failed {fail_count}x — creating issue.')
+            create_issue(remote_sha, fail_count)
             ISSUE_SHA_FILE.write_text(remote_sha + '\n')
         else:
-            print(f'{remote_sha[:8]} still failing, issue already open, skipping.')
+            print(f'{remote_sha[:8]} failed {fail_count}x, issue already exists, skipping.')
         return
 
-    print(f'Deploying {remote_sha[:8]} (was {last_sha[:8] or "none"})...')
+    attempt = fail_count + 1
+    print(f'Deploying {remote_sha[:8]} (attempt {attempt}/{MAX_FAILURES}, was {last_sha[:8] or "none"})...')
     git('pull', '--ff-only', 'origin', 'main')
 
     result = subprocess.run(
@@ -109,16 +131,15 @@ def main():
     print(combined, end='')
 
     if result.returncode != 0:
-        print(f'Deploy failed (exit {result.returncode})', file=sys.stderr)
+        print(f'Deploy failed (exit {result.returncode}), attempt {attempt}/{MAX_FAILURES}', file=sys.stderr)
         FAILED_SHA_FILE.write_text(remote_sha + '\n')
+        FAIL_COUNT_FILE.write_text(str(attempt) + '\n')
         ERROR_FILE.write_text(combined)
-        ISSUE_SHA_FILE.unlink(missing_ok=True)
         sys.exit(1)
 
     SHA_FILE.write_text(remote_sha + '\n')
-    FAILED_SHA_FILE.unlink(missing_ok=True)
-    ERROR_FILE.unlink(missing_ok=True)
-    ISSUE_SHA_FILE.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+    for f in (FAILED_SHA_FILE, FAIL_COUNT_FILE, ERROR_FILE, ISSUE_SHA_FILE):
+        f.unlink(missing_ok=True)
     print('Deploy complete.')