diff --git a/backend/src/middleware/maintenance.js b/backend/src/middleware/maintenance.js
index e3be0e0e..37ffb202 100644
--- a/backend/src/middleware/maintenance.js
+++ b/backend/src/middleware/maintenance.js
@@ -64,10 +64,15 @@ async function checkMaintenanceMode() {
 
 // Middleware to enforce maintenance mode
 async function maintenanceMiddleware(req, res, next) {
-  // Skip maintenance check for certain paths
+  // Skip maintenance check for certain paths. Admin auth MUST work during
+  // maintenance — otherwise enabling it locks every admin out, including
+  // already-logged-in ones (their /auth/session check would 503 and read as
+  // logged-out). These are the REAL endpoints: the admin login + session
+  // routes live under /api/auth, NOT /api/admin (the old /api/admin/login
+  // entries here matched nothing, which is exactly why the lockout happened).
   const skipPaths = [
-    '/api/admin/login',
-    '/api/admin/auth/login',
+    '/api/auth/admin/login',
+    '/api/auth/session',
     '/api/public/settings',
     '/health'
   ];
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/MaintenanceWrapper.tsx b/frontend/src/components/MaintenanceWrapper.tsx
index ccd3e159..ab9df689 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/MaintenanceWrapper.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/MaintenanceWrapper.tsx
@@ -1,60 +1,39 @@
-import React, { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
+import React, { useEffect } from 'react';
 import { useLocation } from 'react-router-dom';
 import { MaintenanceMode } from './MaintenanceMode';
 import { useMaintenanceMode } from '../contexts/MaintenanceContext';
-import { setMaintenanceModeCallback, api } from '../config/api';
+import { setMaintenanceModeCallback } from '../config/api';
 
 interface MaintenanceWrapperProps {
   children: React.ReactNode;
 }
 
-// Maintenance detection now lives in two places:
+// Maintenance detection lives in two places:
 //   1. The axios interceptor in config/api.ts flips the flag on any 503 response.
 //   2. MaintenanceContext polls /public/settings every 30s and reads the explicit
 //      maintenance_mode field (via the shared usePublicSettings hook).
-// This wrapper only needs to gate the rendered tree on the resulting state.
+//
+// The maintenance screen ONLY blocks customer/gallery/public routes. Admin
+// routes (/admin/*) are never blocked: an admin must always be able to reach
+// the panel to turn maintenance back off, and the admin auth layer already
+// handles access (AdminLayout redirects a logged-out admin to /admin/login).
+// Gating /admin/* here on an "is the admin logged in?" check is what caused the
+// lockout — it hid the login page itself, and after login the check went stale
+// (login → dashboard is a client-side nav within /admin, so it never re-ran),
+// leaving a logged-in admin stuck on the maintenance screen.
 export const MaintenanceWrapper: React.FC<MaintenanceWrapperProps> = ({ children }) => {
   const location = useLocation();
   const { isMaintenanceMode, setMaintenanceMode } = useMaintenanceMode();
-  const [hasAdminSession, setHasAdminSession] = useState(false);
 
   const isAdminRoute = location.pathname.startsWith('/admin');
 
-  useEffect(() => {
-    let isMounted = true;
-
-    const checkAdminSession = async () => {
-      if (!isAdminRoute) {
-        setHasAdminSession(false);
-        return;
-      }
-
-      try {
-        const response = await api.get<{ valid: boolean; type: string }>('/auth/session');
-        if (isMounted) {
-          setHasAdminSession(Boolean(response.data?.valid && response.data.type === 'admin'));
-        }
-      } catch {
-        if (isMounted) {
-          setHasAdminSession(false);
-        }
-      }
-    };
-
-    checkAdminSession();
-
-    return () => {
-      isMounted = false;
-    };
-  }, [isAdminRoute]);
-
   useEffect(() => {
     setMaintenanceModeCallback((enabled: boolean) => {
       setMaintenanceMode(enabled);
     });
   }, [setMaintenanceMode]);
 
-  if (isMaintenanceMode && (!isAdminRoute || !hasAdminSession)) {
+  if (isMaintenanceMode && !isAdminRoute) {
     return <MaintenanceMode />;
   }