diff --git a/frontend/src/components/MaintenanceWrapper.tsx b/frontend/src/components/MaintenanceWrapper.tsx
index f3606e4e..ab9df689 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/MaintenanceWrapper.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/MaintenanceWrapper.tsx
@@ -1,58 +1,31 @@
-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');
-  // The admin login page must ALWAYS render during maintenance — it's how an
-  // admin gets a session to bypass it. Without this exemption a logged-out
-  // admin sees the maintenance screen over the login form (catch-22: needs a
-  // session to get past maintenance, but the login page that grants one is
-  // hidden).
-  const isAdminLoginRoute = location.pathname.startsWith('/admin/login');
-
-  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) => {
@@ -60,7 +33,7 @@ export const MaintenanceWrapper: React.FC<MaintenanceWrapperProps> = ({ children
     });
   }, [setMaintenanceMode]);
 
-  if (isMaintenanceMode && !isAdminLoginRoute && (!isAdminRoute || !hasAdminSession)) {
+  if (isMaintenanceMode && !isAdminRoute) {
     return <MaintenanceMode />;
   }