diff --git a/crates/navigator-bootstrap/src/docker.rs b/crates/navigator-bootstrap/src/docker.rs
index 391b8ae82..e12af7cd3 100644
--- a/crates/navigator-bootstrap/src/docker.rs
+++ b/crates/navigator-bootstrap/src/docker.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ use bollard::models::{
 };
 use bollard::query_parameters::{
     CreateContainerOptions, CreateImageOptions, InspectContainerOptions, InspectNetworkOptions,
-    RemoveContainerOptions, RemoveVolumeOptions, StartContainerOptions,
+    RemoveContainerOptions, RemoveImageOptions, RemoveVolumeOptions, StartContainerOptions,
 };
 use futures::StreamExt;
 use miette::{IntoDiagnostic, Result, WrapErr};
@@ -427,6 +427,15 @@ pub async fn destroy_cluster_resources(
     let container_name = container_name(name);
     let volume_name = volume_name(name);
 
+    // Capture the container's image reference before removing the container so
+    // we can clean it up afterwards.  This prevents stale images from being
+    // re-used on subsequent deploys.
+    let container_image = docker
+        .inspect_container(&container_name, None::<InspectContainerOptions>)
+        .await
+        .ok()
+        .and_then(|info| info.image);
+
     let _ = stop_container(docker, &container_name).await;
 
     let remove_container = docker
@@ -444,6 +453,28 @@ pub async fn destroy_cluster_resources(
         return Err(err).into_diagnostic();
     }
 
+    // Remove the cluster image so the next deploy always pulls the latest
+    // version from the registry instead of reusing a stale local copy.
+    if let Some(ref image_id) = container_image {
+        tracing::debug!("Removing cluster image: {}", image_id);
+        let result = docker
+            .remove_image(
+                image_id,
+                Some(RemoveImageOptions {
+                    force: true,
+                    noprune: true,
+                    ..Default::default()
+                }),
+                None,
+            )
+            .await;
+        if let Err(err) = result
+            && !is_not_found(&err)
+        {
+            tracing::warn!("Failed to remove cluster image {}: {}", image_id, err);
+        }
+    }
+
     let remove_volume = docker
         .remove_volume(&volume_name, Some(RemoveVolumeOptions { force: true }))
         .await;
diff --git a/crates/navigator-bootstrap/src/image.rs b/crates/navigator-bootstrap/src/image.rs
index 150c6e01e..4e2d178ca 100644
--- a/crates/navigator-bootstrap/src/image.rs
+++ b/crates/navigator-bootstrap/src/image.rs
@@ -252,6 +252,29 @@ pub async fn pull_remote_image(
             format!("failed to tag {registry_image} as {target_repo}:{target_tag} on remote")
         })?;
 
+    // Verify that the pulled image matches the expected architecture.
+    // This catches cases where the registry returned the wrong platform
+    // variant (e.g., amd64 on an arm64 host) which would cause an
+    // "exec format error" at container start time.
+    let inspect = remote
+        .inspect_image(image_ref)
+        .await
+        .into_diagnostic()
+        .wrap_err_with(|| format!("failed to inspect pulled image {image_ref} on remote"))?;
+
+    let actual_arch = inspect.architecture.as_deref().unwrap_or("unknown");
+    if actual_arch != remote_platform.arch {
+        return Err(miette::miette!(
+            "architecture mismatch: pulled image {image_ref} is {actual_arch} but remote host is {expected}; \
+             try removing stale images on the remote host and re-deploying",
+            expected = remote_platform.arch,
+        ));
+    }
+    info!(
+        "Verified image architecture: {} matches remote host",
+        actual_arch
+    );
+
     on_progress(format!("[status] Image {image_ref} ready on remote host"));
     info!("Remote image pull and tag complete: {}", image_ref);