diff --git a/runner/deployment.yaml b/runner/deployment.yaml
index e9018b6..ea2e404 100644
--- a/runner/deployment.yaml
+++ b/runner/deployment.yaml
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@ spec:
       containers:
         - name: runner
           image: gitea/act_runner:latest
-          command: ["sh", "-c", "until nc -z localhost 2375 2>/dev/null; do echo 'waiting for dind...'; sleep 2; done && exec /usr/local/bin/act_runner daemon"]
+          workingDir: /data
+          command: ["sh", "-c", "until nc -z localhost 2375 2>/dev/null; do echo 'waiting for dind...'; sleep 2; done && if [ ! -f /data/.runner ]; then /usr/local/bin/act_runner register --no-interactive --instance \"$GITEA_INSTANCE_URL\" --token \"$GITEA_RUNNER_REGISTRATION_TOKEN\" --name \"$GITEA_RUNNER_NAME\" --config \"$CONFIG_FILE\"; fi && exec /usr/local/bin/act_runner daemon --config \"$CONFIG_FILE\""]
           resources:
             requests:
               cpu: 100m