diff --git a/garage/templates/NOTES.txt b/garage/templates/NOTES.txt
index ab65bc2..7894217 100644
--- a/garage/templates/NOTES.txt
+++ b/garage/templates/NOTES.txt
@@ -1,16 +1,20 @@
 Garage {{ .Chart.AppVersion }} has been deployed.
 
-S3 API:   http://{{ include "garage.fullname" . }}.{{ .Release.Namespace }}.svc.cluster.local:{{ .Values.service.s3ApiPort }}
+S3 API:    http://{{ include "garage.fullname" . }}.{{ .Release.Namespace }}.svc.cluster.local:{{ .Values.service.s3ApiPort }}
 Admin API: http://{{ include "garage.fullname" . }}.{{ .Release.Namespace }}.svc.cluster.local:{{ .Values.service.adminPort }}
 {{- if .Values.garage.web.enabled }}
-Web:      http://{{ include "garage.fullname" . }}.{{ .Release.Namespace }}.svc.cluster.local:{{ .Values.service.s3WebPort }}
+Web:       http://{{ include "garage.fullname" . }}.{{ .Release.Namespace }}.svc.cluster.local:{{ .Values.service.s3WebPort }}
 {{- end }}
 
-On first install, the pod's postStart hook assigns and applies a single-node
-layout automatically. Check with:
-  kubectl -n {{ .Release.Namespace }} exec deploy/{{ include "garage.fullname" . }} -- /garage status
+REQUIRED one-time setup (Garage does not accept S3/admin traffic until a
+layout is assigned and applied):
 
-Create a bucket and access key with:
+  kubectl -n {{ .Release.Namespace }} exec deploy/{{ include "garage.fullname" . }} -- /garage status
+  NODE_ID=$(kubectl -n {{ .Release.Namespace }} exec deploy/{{ include "garage.fullname" . }} -- /garage node id -q | cut -d@ -f1)
+  kubectl -n {{ .Release.Namespace }} exec deploy/{{ include "garage.fullname" . }} -- /garage layout assign -z {{ .Values.garage.zone }} -c {{ .Values.garage.capacity }} "$NODE_ID"
+  kubectl -n {{ .Release.Namespace }} exec deploy/{{ include "garage.fullname" . }} -- /garage layout apply --version 1
+
+Then create a bucket and access key:
   kubectl -n {{ .Release.Namespace }} exec deploy/{{ include "garage.fullname" . }} -- /garage bucket create my-bucket
   kubectl -n {{ .Release.Namespace }} exec deploy/{{ include "garage.fullname" . }} -- /garage key create my-key
   kubectl -n {{ .Release.Namespace }} exec deploy/{{ include "garage.fullname" . }} -- /garage bucket allow --read --write --key my-key my-bucket
diff --git a/garage/templates/deployment.yaml b/garage/templates/deployment.yaml
index 46fdc69..fbbe0ae 100644
--- a/garage/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/garage/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ spec:
         - name: garage
           image: "{{ .Values.image.repository }}:{{ .Values.image.tag | default .Chart.AppVersion }}"
           imagePullPolicy: {{ .Values.image.pullPolicy }}
+          command:
+            - /garage
           args:
             - server
           env:
@@ -51,28 +53,6 @@ spec:
               mountPath: /var/lib/garage/data
             - name: meta
               mountPath: /var/lib/garage/meta
-          {{- if .Values.layoutJob.enabled }}
-          lifecycle:
-            postStart:
-              exec:
-                command:
-                  - /bin/sh
-                  - -c
-                  - |
-                    NODE_ID=""
-                    for i in $(seq 1 60); do
-                      NODE_ID=$(/garage node id -q 2>/dev/null | cut -d@ -f1)
-                      [ -n "$NODE_ID" ] && break
-                      sleep 2
-                    done
-                    [ -z "$NODE_ID" ] && exit 0
-                    if /garage layout show 2>/dev/null | grep -q "$NODE_ID"; then
-                      exit 0
-                    fi
-                    /garage layout assign -z {{ .Values.garage.zone }} -c {{ .Values.garage.capacity }} "$NODE_ID"
-                    VERSION=$(/garage layout show 2>/dev/null | grep -o 'version [0-9]*' | tail -1 | awk '{print $2+1}')
-                    /garage layout apply --version "${VERSION:-1}" || true
-          {{- end }}
           readinessProbe:
             tcpSocket:
               port: s3-api
diff --git a/garage/values.yaml b/garage/values.yaml
index 39c76a3..b88e310 100644
--- a/garage/values.yaml
+++ b/garage/values.yaml
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ garage:
   replicationFactor: 1
   consistencyMode: consistent
   dbEngine: sqlite
-  # Zone/capacity used by the layout job to bootstrap a single-node cluster.
+  # Recommended zone/capacity for the one-time manual layout bootstrap
+  # (see NOTES.txt) - `garage layout assign -z <zone> -c <capacity> <node-id>`.
   zone: dc1
   capacity: 100G
   rpcBindAddr: "[::]:3901"
@@ -91,11 +92,6 @@ ingress:
     hosts: []
     tls: []
 
-# One-shot Helm hook Job that assigns and applies a single-node layout on
-# first install. Safe to re-run; it exits early once a layout already exists.
-layoutJob:
-  enabled: true
-
 resources:
   requests:
     cpu: 100m