diff --git a/tools/deploy/index.ts b/tools/deploy/index.ts
index 1ffd6c5c..ab02a72e 100644
--- a/tools/deploy/index.ts
+++ b/tools/deploy/index.ts
@@ -210,9 +210,12 @@ common(program.command('deploy [names...]'))
                     console.log(`${name}: ${matched.size} files | ${entry.cmd}`);
                     const upload = spawn(entry.cmd, {shell: true, stdio: ['pipe', 'inherit', 'inherit']});
                     // If the command dies early we report its exit code; don't
-                    // also crash on the resulting EPIPE.
+                    // also crash on the resulting EPIPE, which reaches both
+                    // stdin and (via streamx's destroy propagation) the pack.
                     upload.stdin!.on('error', () => {});
-                    aq.pack(dst => matched.has(dst)).pipe(upload.stdin!);
+                    const pack = aq.pack(dst => matched.has(dst));
+                    pack.on('error', () => {});
+                    pack.pipe(upload.stdin!);
                     if (await waitExit(upload) !== 0) {
                         return 1;
                     }
diff --git a/tools/deploy/queue.ts b/tools/deploy/queue.ts
index bba14691..5fb8734d 100644
--- a/tools/deploy/queue.ts
+++ b/tools/deploy/queue.ts
@@ -168,11 +168,11 @@ export class ActionQueue {
             if (entry.type !== 'Op' || (filter !== undefined && !filter(entry.dst)))
                 continue;
             const op = entry.op;
-            if (op.type === 'Copy'){
-                t.entry({name: entry.dst}, fs.readFileSync(op.src));
-            } else if (op.type === 'Write') {
-                t.entry({name: entry.dst}, op.data);
-            }
+            const data = op.type === 'Copy' ? fs.readFileSync(op.src) : op.data;
+            // A dying consumer destroys the pack and every pending entry
+            // sink, and each sink emits the error; the consumer is the one
+            // reporting the failure, so keep the sinks quiet.
+            t.entry({name: entry.dst}, data).on('error', () => {});
         }
         // Without this the archive has no end-of-archive marker, and strict
         // readers (Python tarfile in stream mode) die on the truncation.