diff --git a/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/README.md b/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/README.md
index 56e8723..a9f27ca 100644
--- a/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/README.md
+++ b/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/README.md
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ dstack-ingress is a HAProxy-based L4 (TCP) proxy that provides:
 
 2. **TLS Termination**: HAProxy terminates TLS and forwards the decrypted TCP stream to your backend. No HTTP inspection — the proxy operates entirely at L4.
 
-3. **Certificate Renewal**: A background daemon checks for renewal every 12 hours. On renewal, HAProxy is gracefully reloaded with zero downtime. A failed pass is retried after 60s, backing off by 60s per attempt up to 30 minutes. A domain that fails does not stop the others from being served: in dns-01 mode the container exits at startup only if no domain has a certificate yet, and in tls-alpn-01 mode it serves a placeholder certificate until issuance succeeds.
+3. **Certificate Renewal**: A background daemon checks for renewal every 12 hours. On renewal, HAProxy is gracefully reloaded with zero downtime. A failed pass is retried after 60s, backing off by 60s per attempt up to 30 minutes. A domain that fails does not stop the others from being served: in dns-01 mode a restart serves the certificates already on disk right away and checks them in the background, and the container exits at startup only if no domain has a certificate yet. In tls-alpn-01 mode it serves a placeholder certificate until issuance succeeds.
 
 4. **Evidence Generation**: Generates cryptographically linked attestation evidence (ACME account, certificates, TDX quote / dstack attestation) for TEE verification.
 
diff --git a/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/TESTING.md b/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/TESTING.md
index a61e0eb..59fee0e 100644
--- a/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/TESTING.md
+++ b/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/TESTING.md
@@ -134,10 +134,10 @@ renewal window, and `RENEW_DAYS_BEFORE` sets it in either mode:
 
 - **not due**: leave `RENEW_DAYS_BEFORE` unset, set a short `RENEW_INTERVAL`,
   and restart the container. Expect lego `Skip renewal` / certbot `No
-  certificates need renewal`. The first pass after a start always republishes
-  the evidence (and reloads haproxy in tls-alpn-01 mode); the passes after it
-  must not. A later pass that reloads or regenerates evidence is a bug — it
-  means the renewal decision is not being read correctly.
+  certificates need renewal`. Every start republishes the evidence before
+  serving; no pass after that may reload haproxy or regenerate the evidence.
+  One that does is a bug — it means the renewal decision is not being read
+  correctly.
 - **due**: set `RENEW_DAYS_BEFORE=365` and restart. Expect a new certificate,
   a reload, and regenerated evidence.
 
diff --git a/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/cert-lib.sh b/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/cert-lib.sh
index c8a935d..8b80208 100644
--- a/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/cert-lib.sh
+++ b/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/cert-lib.sh
@@ -17,10 +17,10 @@ FIRST_PASS=true
 # show them yet. They survive across passes, so a failed step is retried on the
 # next one, and only that step: evidence that keeps failing must not reload
 # haproxy on every retry, as each reload leaves the old workers holding their
-# connections for up to TIMEOUT_CLIENT. Both start set so every container start
-# republishes the evidence: what a previous run left in /evidences may list
-# removed domains or an old account, or be half published.
-RELOAD_PENDING=true
+# connections for up to TIMEOUT_CLIENT. The evidence starts pending, so every
+# start republishes it (see prepare_serving); haproxy has nothing to reload
+# before it starts.
+RELOAD_PENDING=false
 EVIDENCE_PENDING=true
 
 build_combined_pems() {
@@ -63,6 +63,22 @@ collect_evidence() {
 # Empty when the domain has no certificate yet.
 cert_checksum() { sha256sum "$(cert_fullchain_path "$1")" 2>/dev/null || true; }
 
+# Run once, just before haproxy starts. haproxy reads the PEMs itself, so there
+# is nothing to reload yet. What the last run left in /evidences attests a
+# container that may no longer be running, so republish the evidence unless a
+# startup pass already has -- it is local and quick -- or, if that is not
+# possible yet, serve none. A first start has no ACME account to collect yet.
+prepare_serving() {
+    build_combined_pems
+    RELOAD_PENDING=false
+    [ "$EVIDENCE_PENDING" = true ] || return 0
+    if acme_account_file >/dev/null 2>&1 && collect_evidence; then
+        EVIDENCE_PENDING=false
+    else
+        evidence_withdraw
+    fi
+}
+
 # One pass over every domain: make sure the records are right, then issue or
 # renew. Idempotent, so the first pass and every later one are the same code.
 run_pass() {
diff --git a/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/dns01.sh b/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/dns01.sh
index 8f78236..7eb3031 100644
--- a/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/dns01.sh
+++ b/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/dns01.sh
@@ -332,13 +332,6 @@ setup_py_env
 setup_certbot_env
 load_dstack_identity
 
-# dns-01 needs no inbound traffic, so keep the original order: certificate
-# first, serving second. A certificate failure here is fatal only when there is
-# nothing to serve. Otherwise exiting would just restart into the same failure
-# -- hitting the CA again on every restart -- while every domain goes unserved,
-# including those whose certificates are fine (a newly added domain failing its
-# first issuance would take down the others). Serve what there is and let the
-# loop retry with backoff instead.
 have_any_cert() {
     local domain
     while IFS= read -r domain; do
@@ -348,18 +341,29 @@ have_any_cert() {
     return 1
 }
 
-startup_status=0
-run_pass || startup_status=$?
-case $startup_status in
-    0) next_check=${RENEW_INTERVAL:-43200} ;;
-    3) next_check=60 ;;
-    *)
-        have_any_cert || exit "$startup_status"
-        echo "Certificate pass failed; serving the certificates there are and retrying" >&2
-        next_check=60
-        ;;
-esac
-build_combined_pems
+# With a certificate on disk, serve it first and run the pass behind haproxy.
+# Running it first would leave every domain unserved until it finishes, and one
+# new domain can hold it for long: a certbot run up to its timeout, or up to
+# DNS_SETUP_TIMEOUT while its delegation CNAMEs are still being created.
+#
+# With none there is nothing to serve, and dns-01 needs no inbound traffic, so
+# issue first. A pass that ends with still no certificate is fatal; one that
+# got some serves them and leaves the loop to retry the rest with backoff.
+next_check=0
+if ! have_any_cert; then
+    startup_status=0
+    run_pass || startup_status=$?
+    case $startup_status in
+        0) next_check=${RENEW_INTERVAL:-43200} ;;
+        3) next_check=60 ;;
+        *)
+            have_any_cert || exit "$startup_status"
+            echo "Certificate pass failed; serving the certificates there are and retrying" >&2
+            next_check=60
+            ;;
+    esac
+fi
+prepare_serving
 
 haproxy_emit_global
 haproxy_emit_tls_frontend ":${PORT}$(haproxy_accept_proxy)"
diff --git a/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/evidence-lib.sh b/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/evidence-lib.sh
index 914974f..9d658e0 100644
--- a/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/evidence-lib.sh
+++ b/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/evidence-lib.sh
@@ -115,6 +115,12 @@ evidence_publish() {
     rm -rf "$stage"
 }
 
+# Take down what an earlier run published, for when this one cannot replace it
+# yet: no evidence is better than evidence for another container.
+evidence_withdraw() {
+    rm -f "$EVIDENCE_DIR"/{acme-account.json,cert-*.pem,sha256sum.txt,quote.json,attestation.json}
+}
+
 evidence_start_server() {
     [ "${EVIDENCE_SERVER:-true}" = "true" ] || return 0
     # Bind loopback explicitly. Left to itself mini_httpd binds [::]:port first,
diff --git a/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/tlsalpn.sh b/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/tlsalpn.sh
index 586c350..094260d 100644
--- a/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/tlsalpn.sh
+++ b/custom-domain/dstack-ingress/scripts/tlsalpn.sh
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ require_instance_id
 # first certificate can exist, so start on a placeholder and let the loop
 # converge behind it.
 ensure_placeholder_certs
-build_combined_pems
+prepare_serving
 
 haproxy_emit_global
 emit_peek_frontend