diff --git a/ansible/README.md b/ansible/README.md
index c90c926..4915e1c 100644
--- a/ansible/README.md
+++ b/ansible/README.md
@@ -52,6 +52,22 @@ central list:
 Removing a service is the reverse: delete the drop-in, delete the Caddyfile
 block, `systemctl --user daemon-reload`, and the network is no longer Caddy's.
 
+`mozimo-network.service` is a `oneshot` with `RemainAfterExit=yes`, so systemd
+keeps reporting it as `active (exited)` even if the network underneath it was
+removed out of band (`podman network rm`, `podman network prune`, a wiped
+`/run/user/<uid>`); restarting Caddy then starts it against a network that is
+not there, and Caddy's own restart loop takes *every* site on the host down
+with it. The playbook therefore asks podman (`podman network exists`) rather
+than systemd, and recreates the network before Caddy is restarted. To recover
+by hand:
+
+```bash
+ssh emily
+systemctl --user restart mozimo-network.service   # recreate mozimo_net
+systemctl --user reset-failed caddy.service
+systemctl --user start caddy.service
+```
+
 ## Migrating monoco → emily
 
 monoco is the current host: rootful Docker, data in `/var/lib/mozimo`, its own
diff --git a/ansible/roles/network/tasks/main.yaml b/ansible/roles/network/tasks/main.yaml
index 7d5f7c7..f563bc1 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/network/tasks/main.yaml
+++ b/ansible/roles/network/tasks/main.yaml
@@ -13,6 +13,44 @@
   register: mozimo_network_unit
   notify: Restart Caddy
 
+# The generator only turns the .network file into a service on a reload, and
+# the recreate below has to be able to start that service on a first deploy.
+- name: Generate the user service from the network Quadlet
+  ansible.builtin.systemd_service:
+    daemon_reload: true
+    scope: user
+
+# systemd reports a finished oneshot as "active (exited)" for as long as its
+# unit file exists, so the unit's state says nothing about the network
+# underneath it: a manual `podman network rm`, a prune, or a wiped runtime
+# directory all leave mozimo-network.service looking healthy. Ask podman.
+#
+# This matters because Caddy *requires* this network. Starting Caddy against a
+# network that is not there kills it, and its restart loop then takes every
+# other site on this host down with it — so a missing network has to be
+# repaired here, before the handler below is flushed.
+- name: Check whether the mozimo network still exists
+  ansible.builtin.command: "podman network exists {{ network_name }}"
+  register: mozimo_network_check
+  changed_when: false
+  failed_when: false
+  check_mode: false
+
+- name: Recreate the mozimo network if it went missing
+  ansible.builtin.systemd_service:
+    name: "{{ network_quadlet }}-network.service"
+    state: restarted
+    scope: user
+  when: mozimo_network_check.rc != 0 and not ansible_check_mode
+
+# Fail here, with the network named, rather than one task later in the Caddy
+# restart, where the same failure shows up as the host's other sites going down.
+- name: Confirm the mozimo network is there before Caddy restarts onto it
+  ansible.builtin.command: "podman network exists {{ network_name }}"
+  changed_when: false
+  check_mode: false
+  when: not ansible_check_mode
+
 - name: Register the network with Caddy
   ansible.builtin.template:
     src: caddy-network.conf.j2
@@ -24,6 +62,12 @@
 # Caddy has to be on the network before the site block starts proxying to it,
 # otherwise the first requests after a reload are 502s. Restarting here also
 # flushes before the mozimo unit comes up.
+#
+# A recreated network keeps its name but not its identity, so Caddy has to be
+# restarted onto it even when neither template changed.
 - name: Restart Caddy now if its network membership changed
   ansible.builtin.meta: flush_handlers
-  when: mozimo_network_unit.changed or mozimo_caddy_dropin.changed
+  when: >-
+    mozimo_network_unit.changed
+    or mozimo_caddy_dropin.changed
+    or mozimo_network_check.rc != 0