diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_create.py b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_create.py
index 5dd8bcef..074b6ba8 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_create.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_create.py
@@ -1118,8 +1118,12 @@ def _write_deployment_files(
             # (user-defined in spec.yml). Fall back to the config/ dir
             # convention if no value is provided.
             if configmap_path and not str(configmap_path).startswith("./"):
-                stack_root = Path(get_stack_path(stack_name)).parent.parent
-                source_config_dir = stack_root / configmap_path
+                # configmap_path is relative to the repo root (cwd during
+                # restart). get_stack_path gives us a path like
+                # "stack-orchestrator/stacks/dumpster" — also relative to
+                # repo root. The configmap_path is already repo-relative,
+                # so use it directly (cwd is repo root during restart).
+                source_config_dir = Path(configmap_path)
             else:
                 source_config_dir = resolve_config_dir(stack_name, configmap_name)
             if os.path.exists(source_config_dir):