diff --git a/deploy.sh b/deploy.sh
index 94d88179..305fcda5 100755
--- a/deploy.sh
+++ b/deploy.sh
@@ -159,13 +159,13 @@ fi
 print_status "Step 3: Deploying on server..."
 
 # Set SKIP_AP_BUILD if we already deployed activepieces image
-SKIP_AP_BUILD_FLAG=""
+SKIP_AP_BUILD_VAL="false"
 if $DEPLOY_AP; then
-    SKIP_AP_BUILD_FLAG="SKIP_AP_BUILD=true"
+    SKIP_AP_BUILD_VAL="true"
 fi
 
 ssh "$SERVER" "bash -s" << ENDSSH
-$SKIP_AP_BUILD_FLAG
+SKIP_AP_BUILD="$SKIP_AP_BUILD_VAL"
 set -e
 
 echo ">>> Setting up project directory..."
@@ -229,16 +229,18 @@ cd smoothschedule
 
 # Build images (all or specific services)
 # Note: If activepieces was pre-deployed via --deploy-ap, skip rebuilding it
+# Use COMPOSE_PARALLEL_LIMIT to reduce memory usage on low-memory servers
+export COMPOSE_PARALLEL_LIMIT=1
 if [[ -n "$SERVICES" ]]; then
     echo ">>> Building Docker images: $SERVICES..."
-    docker compose -f docker-compose.production.yml build --parallel 1 $SERVICES
+    docker compose -f docker-compose.production.yml build $SERVICES
 elif [[ "$SKIP_AP_BUILD" == "true" ]]; then
     # Skip activepieces build since we pre-built and transferred it
     echo ">>> Building Docker images (excluding activepieces - pre-built)..."
-    docker compose -f docker-compose.production.yml build --parallel 1 django nginx traefik postgres celeryworker celerybeat flower awscli verdaccio
+    docker compose -f docker-compose.production.yml build django nginx traefik postgres celeryworker celerybeat flower awscli verdaccio
 else
-    echo ">>> Building all Docker images (with low parallelism for memory)..."
-    docker compose -f docker-compose.production.yml build --parallel 1
+    echo ">>> Building all Docker images..."
+    docker compose -f docker-compose.production.yml build
 fi
 
 echo ">>> Starting containers..."