diff --git a/scripts/ez-homelab.sh b/scripts/ez-homelab.sh
index 37c1990..2d056ec 100755
--- a/scripts/ez-homelab.sh
+++ b/scripts/ez-homelab.sh
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ localize_yml_file() {
 
     for var in $vars; do
         # Trim whitespace from variable name
-        var=$(echo "$var" | sed 's/^[[:space:]]*//;s/[[:space:]]*$//')
+        var=$(echo "$var" | sed 's/^[ \t\n]*//;s/[ \t\n]*$//')
         # Skip derived variables that should not be replaced
         case "$var" in
             "ACME_EMAIL"|"AUTHELIA_ADMIN_EMAIL"|"SMTP_USERNAME"|"SMTP_PASSWORD")
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ localize_yml_file() {
     local remaining_vars=$(grep -v '^[[:space:]]*#' "$file_path" | grep -o '\${[^}]*}' | sed 's/\${//' | sed 's/}//' | sort | uniq)
     local invalid_remaining=""
     for rvar in $remaining_vars; do
-        rvar=$(echo "$rvar" | sed 's/^[[:space:]]*//;s/[[:space:]]*$//')
+        rvar=$(echo "$rvar" | sed 's/^[ \t\n]*//;s/[ \t\n]*$//')
         case "$rvar" in
             "ACME_EMAIL"|"AUTHELIA_ADMIN_EMAIL"|"SMTP_USERNAME"|"SMTP_PASSWORD")
                 continue
@@ -1147,6 +1147,9 @@ perform_deployment() {
         log_success "Authelia password hash generated and saved"
     fi
 
+    # Reload .env to get updated secrets
+    load_env_file_safely "$REPO_DIR/.env"
+
     # Step 1: Create required directories
     log_info "Step 1: Creating required directories..."
     sudo mkdir -p /opt/stacks/core || { log_error "Failed to create /opt/stacks/core"; exit 1; }