diff --git a/infrastructure/vps-standby/gitlab/values.yaml b/infrastructure/vps-standby/gitlab/values.yaml
index 58cd94d..ed8ad0f 100644
--- a/infrastructure/vps-standby/gitlab/values.yaml
+++ b/infrastructure/vps-standby/gitlab/values.yaml
@@ -69,6 +69,19 @@ global:
         - secret: gitlab-oidc-secret
           key: provider
 
+# GitLab's pre-upgrade hook checks the deployed version against a
+# previous-release ConfigMap to enforce supported upgrade paths - found
+# live 2026-08-21 that it fails with "unsupported upgrade path" on a
+# genuinely FRESH install too (confirmed: no prior chart-info ConfigMap,
+# no Helm release secret, brand new namespace) - a chart/ArgoCD
+# interaction quirk (ArgoCD doesn't do real `helm install`, so the
+# optional chart-info ConfigMap's absence apparently isn't handled the
+# way the script expects). Not relevant for a fresh install anyway - only
+# matters for real version-to-version upgrades, which is a future concern
+# once this is actually running something to upgrade FROM.
+upgradeCheck:
+  enabled: false
+
 postgresql:
   install: false