diff --git a/tools/publish-update.cjs b/tools/publish-update.cjs
index 03e551c..e25435a 100644
--- a/tools/publish-update.cjs
+++ b/tools/publish-update.cjs
@@ -185,9 +185,24 @@ async function giteaPrune(baseUrl, token, keepFile, keepPrevious = 1) {
   let files;
   try { files = JSON.parse(res.body); } catch (_) { return; }
   if (!Array.isArray(files)) return;
+  // Rank by the version in the filename, not by created_at: this server returns that field empty,
+  // which would leave every build "equally old" and quietly retain the OLDEST one as the rollback
+  // copy instead of the newest.
+  const verOf = (name) => {
+    const m = String(name).match(/(\d+(?:\.\d+)+)/);
+    return m ? m[1].split('.').map(n => parseInt(n, 10) || 0) : [];
+  };
+  const newerFirst = (a, b) => {
+    const pa = verOf(a.name), pb = verOf(b.name);
+    for (let i = 0; i < Math.max(pa.length, pb.length); i++) {
+      const x = pa[i] || 0, y = pb[i] || 0;
+      if (x !== y) return y - x;
+    }
+    return new Date(b.created_at || 0) - new Date(a.created_at || 0);
+  };
   const stale = files
     .filter(f => f && typeof f.name === 'string' && f.name.toLowerCase().endsWith('.exe') && f.name !== keepFile)
-    .sort((a, b) => new Date(b.created_at || 0) - new Date(a.created_at || 0))
+    .sort(newerFirst)
     .slice(keepPrevious);
   for (const f of stale) {
     const del = await giteaRequest('DELETE', baseUrl.replace(/\/+$/, '') + '/' + encodeURIComponent(f.name), token, null);