diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
index d7387a4..d1a8ce1 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -50,6 +50,12 @@ jobs:
       CONTENT_DIR: ${{ gitea.workspace }}/content-repo
       TEMPLATE_DIR: ${{ gitea.workspace }}/template-repo
       HUGO_BIN: ${{ gitea.workspace }}/.hugo/hugo
+      # Belt-and-braces: a single dropped internal-link target (e.g. a page the
+      # pipeline QA rejected) must not fail the whole site build. Hugo maps this
+      # top-level config key to HUGO_<KEY>; "warning" downgrades unresolved
+      # ref/relref from a fatal error to a warning. The generated hugo.toml also
+      # sets this, so already-committed brands build even before regeneration.
+      HUGO_REFLINKSERRORLEVEL: warning
     steps:
       # --- 1. Clone the content repo (this repo) directly. actions/checkout is
       #        avoided so we don't depend on the runner reaching github.com. ---