diff --git a/deployment/ansible/playbooks/fix-gitea-complete.yml b/deployment/ansible/playbooks/fix-gitea-complete.yml
index d0f901df..8e867420 100644
--- a/deployment/ansible/playbooks/fix-gitea-complete.yml
+++ b/deployment/ansible/playbooks/fix-gitea-complete.yml
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@
         timeout: 30
         delay: 2
       changed_when: false
+      when: traefik_restart.changed | default(false) | bool
 
     - name: Wait for Gitea to be reachable via Traefik (with retries)
       ansible.builtin.uri:
@@ -102,6 +103,7 @@
       delay: 2
       changed_when: false
       failed_when: false
+      when: (traefik_restart.changed | default(false) | bool) or (gitea_restart.changed | default(false) | bool)
 
     - name: Check if Gitea is in Traefik service discovery
       ansible.builtin.shell: |
@@ -110,6 +112,7 @@
       register: traefik_gitea_service_check
       changed_when: false
       failed_when: false
+      when: (traefik_restart.changed | default(false) | bool) or (gitea_restart.changed | default(false) | bool)
 
     - name: Final status check
       ansible.builtin.uri:
diff --git a/deployment/ansible/playbooks/fix-gitea-timeouts.yml b/deployment/ansible/playbooks/fix-gitea-timeouts.yml
index 332b6cc6..1b094c89 100644
--- a/deployment/ansible/playbooks/fix-gitea-timeouts.yml
+++ b/deployment/ansible/playbooks/fix-gitea-timeouts.yml
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@
         timeout: 30
         delay: 2
       changed_when: false
+      when: traefik_restart.changed | default(false) | bool
 
     - name: Wait for Gitea to be reachable via Traefik
       ansible.builtin.uri:
@@ -100,6 +101,7 @@
       delay: 2
       changed_when: false
       failed_when: false
+      when: (traefik_restart.changed | default(false) | bool) or (gitea_restart.changed | default(false) | bool)
 
     - name: Check final Gitea container status
       ansible.builtin.shell: |
diff --git a/deployment/ansible/playbooks/fix-gitea-traefik-connection.yml b/deployment/ansible/playbooks/fix-gitea-traefik-connection.yml
index a018e801..1c1d32b4 100644
--- a/deployment/ansible/playbooks/fix-gitea-traefik-connection.yml
+++ b/deployment/ansible/playbooks/fix-gitea-traefik-connection.yml
@@ -60,11 +60,13 @@
       when: >
         traefik_gitea_test.rc != 0
         and (traefik_auto_restart | default(false) | bool)
+      register: traefik_restart
+      changed_when: traefik_restart.rc == 0
 
     - name: Wait for Traefik to be ready
       pause:
         seconds: 10
-      when: traefik_gitea_test.rc != 0
+      when: traefik_restart.changed | default(false) | bool
 
     - name: Test Gitea via Traefik
       uri:
@@ -75,15 +77,18 @@
         timeout: 10
       register: final_test
       changed_when: false
+      when: traefik_restart.changed | default(false) | bool
 
     - name: Display result
       debug:
         msg: |
           Gitea-Traefik connection test:
           - Direct connection: {{ 'OK' if traefik_gitea_test.rc == 0 else 'FAILED' }}
-          - Via Traefik: {{ 'OK' if final_test.status == 200 else 'FAILED' }}
+          - Via Traefik: {{ 'OK' if (final_test.status | default(0) == 200) else 'FAILED' if (traefik_restart.changed | default(false) | bool) else 'SKIPPED (no restart)' }}
           
-          {% if traefik_gitea_test.rc != 0 %}
-          Both services have been restarted to refresh connections.
+          {% if traefik_restart.changed | default(false) | bool %}
+          Traefik has been restarted to refresh service discovery.
+          {% elif traefik_gitea_test.rc != 0 %}
+          Note: Traefik restart was skipped (traefik_auto_restart=false). Direct connection test failed.
           {% endif %}
 
diff --git a/deployment/ansible/playbooks/update-gitea-traefik-service.yml b/deployment/ansible/playbooks/update-gitea-traefik-service.yml
index 8c63e6d6..4cf3574b 100644
--- a/deployment/ansible/playbooks/update-gitea-traefik-service.yml
+++ b/deployment/ansible/playbooks/update-gitea-traefik-service.yml
@@ -51,10 +51,13 @@
       shell: |
         docker compose -f {{ traefik_stack_path }}/docker-compose.yml restart traefik
       when: traefik_auto_restart | default(false) | bool
+      register: traefik_restart
+      changed_when: traefik_restart.rc == 0
 
     - name: Wait for Traefik to be ready
       pause:
         seconds: 10
+      when: traefik_restart.changed | default(false) | bool
 
     - name: Test Gitea via Traefik
       uri: