diff --git a/deploy/deploy.sh b/deploy/deploy.sh
index 9cfa350..975d14d 100755
--- a/deploy/deploy.sh
+++ b/deploy/deploy.sh
@@ -112,6 +112,16 @@ echo "==> enabling WooCommerce HPOS (custom order tables)"
 $WP option update woocommerce_custom_orders_table_enabled yes
 $WP option update woocommerce_custom_orders_table_data_sync_enabled yes
 
+# WooCommerce's default (unset -> '1:1') force-crops every product
+# thumbnail to a square — confirmed directly: a 335x500 portrait book cover
+# was landing at a hard-cropped 300x300 shop-grid thumbnail, cutting off
+# the top and bottom of the cover. 'uncropped' makes it a proportional
+# 300x448 instead. wc_get_image_size() caches the computed size in the
+# object cache, so the option change alone doesn't take effect until flushed.
+echo "==> uncropped product thumbnails (book covers are portrait, not square)"
+$WP option update woocommerce_thumbnail_cropping uncropped
+$WP cache flush
+
 if [[ "$ENVIRONMENT" != "production" ]]; then
   echo "==> discouraging search engines (non-production)"
   $WP option update blog_public 0