diff --git a/deploy/seahaven/seed_store.sh b/deploy/seahaven/seed_store.sh
index 1125a760..e3765917 100755
--- a/deploy/seahaven/seed_store.sh
+++ b/deploy/seahaven/seed_store.sh
@@ -122,9 +122,14 @@ elif [ -n "$ADMINS" ]; then
   [ -n "$_login" ] && [ -n "$_email" ] && MAPPINGS+=("${_login}:${_email}")
 fi
 
+# No user mapping is NON-FATAL (OSWE-SEED-03 precedent: never fail the unit into a
+# restart loop over a seeding gap — same as the server-not-ready path below). The
+# server itself is healthy; an unseeded user_mappings table only means the @openswe
+# trigger won't resolve a commenter, which a deployment-validation env (e.g. dev)
+# does not need. team_settings is still seeded. Set SEED_USER_MAPPINGS (or
+# CONFIGURED_ADMINS / OPENSWE_OWNER_LOGIN+EMAIL) to seed the mapping when wanted.
 if [ "${#MAPPINGS[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
-  echo "seed_store: no user mapping resolved — set SEED_USER_MAPPINGS or OPENSWE_OWNER_LOGIN/EMAIL" >&2
-  exit 1
+  echo "seed_store: no user mapping resolved — skipping user_mappings seed (set SEED_USER_MAPPINGS or OPENSWE_OWNER_LOGIN/EMAIL to enable)" >&2
 fi
 
 NOW="$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S+00:00)"