diff --git a/playbook.yml b/playbook.yml
index b52731e..caa90c1 100644
--- a/playbook.yml
+++ b/playbook.yml
@@ -60,17 +60,6 @@
         {{ playbook_dir }}/trade-hub/frontend
       when: frontend_image_check.rc != 0 or force_rebuild | bool
 
-    # podman_container does not recreate a container whose image tag now
-    # resolves to a new ID, so rebuilt images require removing them first.
-    - name: Remove containers so rebuilt images are used
-      containers.podman.podman_container:
-        name: "{{ item }}"
-        state: absent
-      loop:
-        - sc-inventory-backend
-        - sc-inventory-frontend
-      when: force_rebuild | bool
-
     - name: Create podman network
       containers.podman.podman_network:
         name: "{{ network_name }}"
@@ -102,6 +91,9 @@
         name: sc-inventory-backend
         image: "{{ backend_image }}:{{ image_tag }}"
         state: started
+        # podman does not recreate a container when its image tag resolves to
+        # a new ID, so without this a rebuilt image would be ignored.
+        recreate: true
         network: "{{ network_name }}"
         # Network alias "backend" matches the compose service name, so the
         # nginx upstream (http://backend:8000) resolves in both deployments.
@@ -118,6 +110,7 @@
         name: sc-inventory-frontend
         image: "{{ frontend_image }}:{{ image_tag }}"
         state: started
+        recreate: true
         network: "{{ network_name }}"
         ports:
           - "{{ frontend_port }}"