diff --git a/deploy_alpine.sh b/deploy_alpine.sh
index c0f3edc..8575bee 100755
--- a/deploy_alpine.sh
+++ b/deploy_alpine.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@ echo "working branch: ${BRANCH}"
 git checkout ${BRANCH} || exit $?
 git status || exit $?
 git pull --rebase || exit $?
-if [ -f ./examples/crash_reporter/backend/config/config.php.alpine ]; then
-  cp -f ./examples/crash_reporter/backend/config/config.php.alpine ./examples/crash_reporter/backend/config/config.php ||:
+if [ ! -f "./examples/crash_reporter/backend/config/config.php.alpine" ]; then
+  cp -f ./examples/crash_reporter/backend/config/config.php ./examples/crash_reporter/backend/config/config.php.alpine || exit $?
+  ## patch config if needed
 fi
+cp -f ./examples/crash_reporter/backend/config/config.php.alpine ./examples/crash_reporter/backend/config/config.php || exit $?
 sudo -E /etc/init.d/mariadb restart; sudo -E /etc/init.d/php-fpm81 restart; sudo -E /etc/init.d/nginx restart; sudo -E /etc/init.d/gitea restart;