diff --git a/deploy/validate-staging-database-env.sh b/deploy/validate-staging-database-env.sh
index e14ece9c..1fd056d1 100755
--- a/deploy/validate-staging-database-env.sh
+++ b/deploy/validate-staging-database-env.sh
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ fi
 
 definition_count() {
   local key="$1"
-  grep -Ec "^[[:space:]]*(export[[:space:]]+)?${key}[[:space:]]*=" "$ENV_FILE" || true
+  grep -Ec "^[[:space:]]*(export[[:space:]]+)?${key}([[:space:]]*=|[[:space:]]*$)" "$ENV_FILE" || true
 }
 
 environment_value() {
@@ -51,13 +51,20 @@ environment_value() {
   sed -n -E "s/^[[:space:]]*(export[[:space:]]+)?${key}[[:space:]]*=[[:space:]]*(.*)$/\\2/p" "$ENV_FILE"
 }
 
+is_safe_literal() {
+  local value="$1"
+  # Required values are generated as single-line hex-safe literals. This also
+  # permits percent-encoded schema URLs without evaluating dotenv syntax.
+  [[ "$value" =~ ^[A-Za-z0-9._~%:@/+,-]+$ ]]
+}
+
 require_once_non_empty() {
   local key="$1"
   local count
   local value
   count="$(definition_count "$key")"
   value="$(environment_value "$key")"
-  if [ "$count" -ne 1 ] || [ -z "$value" ]; then
+  if [ "$count" -ne 1 ] || ! is_safe_literal "$value"; then
     echo "required staging database environment variable is missing or duplicated: $key" >&2
     exit 1
   fi
diff --git a/frontend/tests/database-env-validator.test.ts b/frontend/tests/database-env-validator.test.ts
index 290ac8ba..fbb1959b 100644
--- a/frontend/tests/database-env-validator.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/tests/database-env-validator.test.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ const validEnvironment = [
   "MIGRATION_RUNNER_PASSWORD=migration-runner-test-password",
   "BACKUP_READER_PASSWORD=backup-reader-test-password",
   "STAGING_BACKUP_ENCRYPTION_KEY=staging-backup-test-password",
-  "SCHEMA_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://schema_owner:schema-owner-test-password@postgres:5432/jyotisha",
+  "SCHEMA_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://schema_owner:schema-owner%2Dtest-password@postgres:5432/jyotisha",
 ];
 
 test("database env validator rejects Compose-compatible duplicate selectors without printing values", () => {
@@ -83,6 +83,60 @@ test("database env validator rejects Compose-compatible duplicate selectors with
   }
 });
 
+test("database env validator rejects bare Compose-compatible duplicate definitions", () => {
+  const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "jyotisha-database-env-"));
+  const envFile = join(root, ".env.staging.database");
+
+  try {
+    writeFileSync(
+      envFile,
+      `${[...validEnvironment, " POSTGRES_DB"].join("\n")}\n`,
+      { mode: 0o600 },
+    );
+    chmodSync(envFile, 0o600);
+
+    const result = spawnSync("bash", [validator, envFile], { encoding: "utf8" });
+    assert.notEqual(result.status, 0);
+    assert.doesNotMatch(
+      `${result.stdout}${result.stderr}`,
+      /postgres-test-password|schema-owner-test-password|staging-backup-test-password/,
+    );
+  } finally {
+    rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+test("database env validator rejects quoted and interpolated required secrets", () => {
+  const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "jyotisha-database-env-"));
+  const envFile = join(root, ".env.staging.database");
+
+  try {
+    for (const password of ['""', "''", "${UNSET}"]) {
+      writeFileSync(
+        envFile,
+        `${validEnvironment
+          .map((line) =>
+            line.startsWith("POSTGRES_PASSWORD=")
+              ? `POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${password}`
+              : line,
+          )
+          .join("\n")}\n`,
+        { mode: 0o600 },
+      );
+      chmodSync(envFile, 0o600);
+
+      const result = spawnSync("bash", [validator, envFile], { encoding: "utf8" });
+      assert.notEqual(result.status, 0, password);
+      assert.doesNotMatch(
+        `${result.stdout}${result.stderr}`,
+        /postgres-test-password|schema-owner-test-password|staging-backup-test-password/,
+      );
+    }
+  } finally {
+    rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
 test("database env validator rejects symlinks and unsafe modes", () => {
   const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "jyotisha-database-env-"));
   const envFile = join(root, ".env.staging.database");