diff --git a/cmd/lk/agent.go b/cmd/lk/agent.go
index a6ec5e6f..9ea2292d 100644
--- a/cmd/lk/agent.go
+++ b/cmd/lk/agent.go
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ var (
 				{
 					Name:   "deploy",
 					Usage:  "Deploy a new version of the agent",
-					Before: createAgentClient,
+					Before: prepareAgentDeploy,
 					Action: deployAgent,
 					Flags: []cli.Flag{
 						attributesFlag,
@@ -435,6 +435,18 @@ func noAgentError() error {
 		"To get started, see: https://docs.livekit.io/agents/quickstart")
 }
 
+func prepareAgentDeploy(ctx context.Context, cmd *cli.Command) (context.Context, error) {
+	// The prebuilt upload client has no deployment selector. Check
+	// before client setup, secret updates, or acquiring an image push target.
+	if deployment := cmd.String("deployment"); deployment != "" &&
+		(cmd.String("image") != "" || cmd.String("image-tar") != "") {
+		return ctx, fmt.Errorf("--deployment %q is not supported with --image or --image-tar; "+
+			"prebuilt image deployments use the default production deployment. "+
+			"Deploy from source to target a named deployment; omit --deployment only if production is intended", deployment)
+	}
+	return createAgentClient(ctx, cmd)
+}
+
 func createAgentClient(ctx context.Context, cmd *cli.Command) (context.Context, error) {
 	return createAgentClientWithOpts(ctx, cmd)
 }
diff --git a/cmd/lk/agent_deploy_test.go b/cmd/lk/agent_deploy_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7f549785
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/lk/agent_deploy_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"io"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/livekit/livekit-cli/v2/pkg/config"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"github.com/urfave/cli/v3"
+)
+
+func TestAgentDeployRejectsImageDeployment(t *testing.T) {
+	cmd := agentDeployTestCommand(t)
+
+	err := cmd.Run(context.Background(), []string{"deploy", "--image", "local:latest", "--deployment", "staging"})
+
+	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "--deployment \"staging\" is not supported with --image or --image-tar")
+}
+
+func TestAgentDeployRejectsImageTarDeployment(t *testing.T) {
+	cmd := agentDeployTestCommand(t)
+
+	err := cmd.Run(context.Background(), []string{"deploy", "--image-tar", "image.tar", "--deployment", "staging"})
+
+	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "--deployment \"staging\" is not supported with --image or --image-tar")
+	require.Nil(t, agentsClient, "rejection must happen before client creation")
+}
+
+func TestAgentDeployAllowsPrebuiltWithoutDeployment(t *testing.T) {
+	cmd := agentDeployTestCommand(t)
+
+	err := cmd.Run(context.Background(), []string{"deploy", "--image-tar", "image.tar"})
+
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+}
+
+func TestAgentDeployAllowsNamedSourceDeployment(t *testing.T) {
+	cmd := agentDeployTestCommand(t)
+
+	err := cmd.Run(context.Background(), []string{"deploy", "--deployment", "staging"})
+
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+}
+
+func agentDeployTestCommand(t *testing.T) *cli.Command {
+	t.Helper()
+	// Client setup uses package globals, so these tests must not run in parallel.
+	oldProject, oldConfig, oldClient, oldDir := project, lkConfig, agentsClient, workingDir
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		project, lkConfig, agentsClient, workingDir = oldProject, oldConfig, oldClient, oldDir
+	})
+	project = &config.ProjectConfig{URL: "https://fixture.livekit.cloud", APIKey: "fixture-key", APISecret: "fixture-secret"}
+	lkConfig, agentsClient = nil, nil
+	workingDir = t.TempDir()
+
+	agent := findCommandByName(AgentCommands, "agent")
+	deploy := findCommandByName(agent.Commands, "deploy")
+	return &cli.Command{
+		Name:      "deploy",
+		Before:    deploy.Before,
+		Writer:    io.Discard,
+		ErrWriter: io.Discard,
+		Flags: []cli.Flag{
+			&cli.StringFlag{Name: "image"},
+			&cli.StringFlag{Name: "image-tar"},
+			&cli.StringFlag{Name: "deployment"},
+		},
+		// Exercise the registered Before hook without loading or deploying an image.
+		Action: func(context.Context, *cli.Command) error { return nil },
+	}
+}