diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/build-and-deploy.yml b/.gitea/workflows/build-and-deploy.yml
index 433a9bd..c23720f 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/build-and-deploy.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/build-and-deploy.yml
@@ -155,7 +155,10 @@ jobs:
           echo "Using SSH host $VPS_HOST"
           mkdir -p ~/.ssh && chmod 700 ~/.ssh
           if [ -n "$VPS_SSH_KEY_B64" ]; then
-            printf '%s' "$VPS_SSH_KEY_B64" | tr -d '[:space:]' | base64 -d > ~/.ssh/id_rsa
+            if ! printf '%s' "$VPS_SSH_KEY_B64" | tr -d '[:space:]' | base64 -d > ~/.ssh/id_rsa 2>/tmp/vps_ssh_key_decode.err; then
+              echo "::warning::VPS_SSH_KEY_B64 is not valid base64; trying it as a raw private key value"
+              printf '%b\n' "$VPS_SSH_KEY_B64" | tr -d '\r' > ~/.ssh/id_rsa
+            fi
           else
             printf '%b\n' "$VPS_SSH_KEY" | tr -d '\r' > ~/.ssh/id_rsa
           fi
@@ -335,7 +338,10 @@ jobs:
           echo "Using SSH host $VPS_HOST"
           mkdir -p ~/.ssh && chmod 700 ~/.ssh
           if [ -n "$VPS_SSH_KEY_B64" ]; then
-            printf '%s' "$VPS_SSH_KEY_B64" | tr -d '[:space:]' | base64 -d > ~/.ssh/id_rsa
+            if ! printf '%s' "$VPS_SSH_KEY_B64" | tr -d '[:space:]' | base64 -d > ~/.ssh/id_rsa 2>/tmp/vps_ssh_key_decode.err; then
+              echo "::warning::VPS_SSH_KEY_B64 is not valid base64; trying it as a raw private key value"
+              printf '%b\n' "$VPS_SSH_KEY_B64" | tr -d '\r' > ~/.ssh/id_rsa
+            fi
           else
             printf '%b\n' "$VPS_SSH_KEY" | tr -d '\r' > ~/.ssh/id_rsa
           fi
@@ -402,4 +408,4 @@ jobs:
             REGISTRY_USER='${{ secrets.REGISTRY_USERNAME }}' \
             REGISTRY_PASSWORD=\$(printf '%s' '$REGISTRY_PASSWORD_B64' | base64 -d) \
             bash scripts/docker-prod-deploy.sh
-          "
\ No newline at end of file
+          "