diff --git a/src/app/articles/[slug]/page.tsx b/src/app/articles/[slug]/page.tsx
index 0a9557b..db05d89 100644
--- a/src/app/articles/[slug]/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/articles/[slug]/page.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import type { Metadata } from "next";
 import { cleanExcerpt } from "@/lib/articles/excerpt";
-import { redirect } from "next/navigation";
+import { notFound } from "next/navigation";
 import ArticleDetailPage from "./ArticleDetailClient";
 import type { Article } from "@/lib/articles/types";
 import {
@@ -10,7 +10,10 @@ import {
   getRelatedForumThreads, type RelatedForumThread,
 } from "@/lib/articles/legacy-source";
 
-export const revalidate = 3600;
+// Deleted or unpublished posts must 404 immediately — never serve a stale
+// cached article shell for up to an hour after DB removal.
+export const dynamic = "force-dynamic";
+export const revalidate = 0;
 export const dynamicParams = true;
 
 interface PageProps {
@@ -90,9 +93,7 @@ export default async function ArticlePage({ params }: PageProps) {
   const { slug } = await params;
   const { article, related, relatedForumThreads } = await loadArticle(slug);
   if (!article) {
-    // Slug isn't in any of our article tables — send the reader to the news
-    // index so a click from the homepage/ticker doesn't dead-end on 404.
-    redirect("/news");
+    notFound();
   }
 
   const articleSchema = {