diff --git a/template/deploy/setup-droplet.sh b/template/deploy/setup-droplet.sh
index 10e4ae2..b352c47 100755
--- a/template/deploy/setup-droplet.sh
+++ b/template/deploy/setup-droplet.sh
@@ -28,7 +28,9 @@ chmod -R g+rX /opt/__SLUG__
 # Caddy: the site and the game server's paths, from the template beside this script.
 sed "s|__HOST__|$HOST|" "$(dirname "$0")/Caddyfile.tmpl" > /etc/caddy/Caddyfile
 caddy validate --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile
-systemctl reload caddy
+# Validation as root touches the access log; Caddy runs as caddy and must own it.
+chown -R caddy:caddy /var/lib/caddy
+systemctl restart caddy
 
 # Firewall: ssh + web only.
 ufw allow OpenSSH