diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
index 53771d8f..1c7dec67 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -141,6 +141,8 @@ jobs:
           docker compose up --no-build --pull never --wait db
 
       - name: Prepare and build API container
+        env:
+          SKIP_CLEANUP: 'yes'
         run: |
           api/prepare-api.sh
 
diff --git a/api/prepare-api.sh b/api/prepare-api.sh
index 2d0cc494..674be2e3 100755
--- a/api/prepare-api.sh
+++ b/api/prepare-api.sh
@@ -53,5 +53,5 @@ echo 'Building API container'
 docker compose build api
 
 echo 'Cleaning up'
-rm -rf api/postgres-data
-rm api/api.sql
+[ -n "$SKIP_CLEANUP" ] || rm -rf api/postgres-data
+[ -n "$SKIP_CLEANUP" ] || rm -f api/api.sql