diff --git a/servers/legion/k8s/neuron-technologies/prod/runpod-lb-configmap.yaml b/servers/legion/k8s/neuron-technologies/prod/runpod-lb-configmap.yaml
index 10f1dff..9541ab0 100644
--- a/servers/legion/k8s/neuron-technologies/prod/runpod-lb-configmap.yaml
+++ b/servers/legion/k8s/neuron-technologies/prod/runpod-lb-configmap.yaml
@@ -104,7 +104,9 @@ metadata:
     app.kubernetes.io/component: load-balancer
     app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: argocd
 spec:
-  replicas: 1
+  # Start at 0 — scale up after runpod-provision.sh creates pods and upstream
+  # servers are populated in the nginx ConfigMap.
+  replicas: 0
   selector:
     matchLabels:
       app: runpod-lb