diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile.onboard-smoke b/docker/Dockerfile.onboard-smoke
index 7b13756b81..63689c6c8a 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile.onboard-smoke
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile.onboard-smoke
@@ -37,4 +37,9 @@ WORKDIR /home/paperclip/workspace
 EXPOSE 3100
 USER paperclip
 
-CMD ["bash", "-lc", "set -euo pipefail; mkdir -p \"$PAPERCLIP_HOME\"; npx --yes \"paperclipai@${PAPERCLIPAI_VERSION}\" onboard --yes --data-dir \"$PAPERCLIP_HOME\""]
+# --bind lan is required: `onboard --yes` without an explicit --bind prefers
+# trusted-local defaults, which write a loopback bind into the instance config
+# and ignore the deployment env vars. A loopback listener inside the container
+# is unreachable through Docker's port mapping, so the smoke health check can
+# never pass without this flag.
+CMD ["bash", "-lc", "set -euo pipefail; mkdir -p \"$PAPERCLIP_HOME\"; npx --yes \"paperclipai@${PAPERCLIPAI_VERSION}\" onboard --yes --bind lan --data-dir \"$PAPERCLIP_HOME\""]
diff --git a/scripts/__tests__/release-verify-workflow.test.mjs b/scripts/__tests__/release-verify-workflow.test.mjs
index 841a002a28..d259376d23 100644
--- a/scripts/__tests__/release-verify-workflow.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/__tests__/release-verify-workflow.test.mjs
@@ -27,6 +27,15 @@ test("release workflow delegates stable and canary verification to the reusable
   assert.doesNotMatch(releaseWorkflow, /verify_(?:canary|stable):[\s\S]*?pnpm test:run(?:\n|$)/);
 });
 
+test("onboard smoke container binds beyond loopback so the mapped port is reachable", () => {
+  const dockerfile = readFileSync(path.join(repoRoot, "docker/Dockerfile.onboard-smoke"), "utf8");
+
+  // `onboard --yes` without an explicit --bind prefers trusted-local
+  // defaults and writes a loopback bind, which Docker port mapping cannot
+  // reach. The smoke container must pin a non-loopback preset.
+  assert.match(dockerfile, /onboard --yes --bind lan/);
+});
+
 test("release smoke workflow extends the container readiness budget for CI", () => {
   const smokeWorkflow = readWorkflow("release-smoke.yml");
   const harness = readFileSync(path.join(repoRoot, "scripts/docker-onboard-smoke.sh"), "utf8");