diff --git a/deploy-static-site/README.md b/deploy-static-site/README.md
index 9f8f44d..8ac5c10 100644
--- a/deploy-static-site/README.md
+++ b/deploy-static-site/README.md
@@ -38,9 +38,9 @@ Builds a Nix flake site, uploads a tarball to S3, and deploys it via Nomad using
 
 ## Infrastructure Requirements
 
-- Nomad namespace `static-sites` must exist
 - `registry.toph.so/static-server:latest` must be pushed (see `images/flake.nix` and the `build-static-server` workflow)
 - S3 bucket (`nix-cache` by default) must exist and be writable with the supplied credentials
+- Nomad namespace `static-sites` is created automatically on first deploy
 
 ## Site Flake Requirements
 
diff --git a/deploy-static-site/action.yaml b/deploy-static-site/action.yaml
index 008faab..38ca3c5 100644
--- a/deploy-static-site/action.yaml
+++ b/deploy-static-site/action.yaml
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ runs:
     - name: Deploy Nomad job
       shell: bash
       run: |
+        nomad namespace apply static-sites
         nix eval --raw --impure \
           --expr "import ${{ github.action_path }}/nomad-job.nix" \
           | nomad job run -json -