diff --git a/scripts/deploy-remote.sh b/scripts/deploy-remote.sh
index 6133dde..f88fd67 100755
--- a/scripts/deploy-remote.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy-remote.sh
@@ -1160,8 +1160,14 @@ deploy_llm_large() {
         return 1
     fi
     if [[ -n "$spec" ]]; then
-        if [[ -z "$spec_dir" || ! -f "$spec_dir/model.safetensors" ]]; then
-            echo "ERROR: spec draft absent for FRANK_LARGE_SPEC=$spec: $spec_dir/model.safetensors" >&2
+        # Both draft weight layouts are real: dflash ships a single
+        # model.safetensors, the Qwen3.5-9B MTP head ships sharded behind
+        # an index. Mirrors the serve script's gate (2026-10-01: the
+        # single-file check rejected the deployed mtp arm).
+        if [[ -z "$spec_dir" || ! -f "$spec_dir/config.json" ]] ||
+           { [[ ! -f "$spec_dir/model.safetensors" ]] &&
+             [[ ! -f "$spec_dir/model.safetensors.index.json" ]]; }; then
+            echo "ERROR: spec draft absent or partial for FRANK_LARGE_SPEC=$spec: $spec_dir" >&2
             echo "frank-large: re-run scripts/download-frank-large-dflash.sh (or the Qwen3.5-9B fetch for mtp)" >&2
             return 1
         fi
diff --git a/tests/frank_large_unit.bats b/tests/frank_large_unit.bats
index 37d23b2..8e5a5e8 100755
--- a/tests/frank_large_unit.bats
+++ b/tests/frank_large_unit.bats
@@ -191,6 +191,9 @@ FETCH_MTPSRC="$REPO_ROOT/scripts/download-frank-large-qwen35.sh"
     grep -q 'FRANK_LARGE_IMAGE' "$REMOTE_DEPLOY"
     grep -q "podman images --format '{{.RepoDigests}}'" "$REMOTE_DEPLOY"
     grep -q 'FRANK_LARGE_MODEL_SHARDS' "$REMOTE_DEPLOY"
+    # The deployer's draft gate must accept the SHARDED MTP layout too —
+    # the 2026-10-01 first deploy died on exactly this single-file check.
+    grep -q 'spec_dir/model.safetensors.index.json' "$REMOTE_DEPLOY"
     grep -q 'FRANK_LARGE_SPEC=' "$REMOTE_DEPLOY"
     grep -q 'wait_port_free 7770' "$REMOTE_DEPLOY"
     grep -q 'MainPID --value frank-large.service' "$REMOTE_DEPLOY"