diff --git a/infra/staging/smoke_suite.sh b/infra/staging/smoke_suite.sh
index debd645..ca47bf5 100755
--- a/infra/staging/smoke_suite.sh
+++ b/infra/staging/smoke_suite.sh
@@ -50,16 +50,26 @@ PY
 echo "[smoke] healthz check: ${BASE_URL}/healthz"
 curl -fsS "${BASE_URL}/healthz" >/dev/null || { SMOKE_FAIL_MESSAGE="healthz check failed" fail "healthz check failed"; }
 
+ENV_FILE="${ENV_FILE:-/etc/wpp/staging.env}"
+
+run_manage() {
+  local cmd="$1"
+  (
+    cd "${APP_DIR}"
+    if [[ -f "${ENV_FILE}" ]]; then
+      set -a
+      # shellcheck disable=SC1090
+      source "${ENV_FILE}"
+      set +a
+    fi
+    .venv/bin/python manage.py ${cmd}
+  )
+}
+
 echo "[smoke] migration consistency check"
-(
-  cd "${APP_DIR}"
-  .venv/bin/python manage.py migrate --check --noinput
-) || { SMOKE_FAIL_MESSAGE="schema drift: unapplied migrations in staging" fail "schema drift: unapplied migrations in staging"; }
+run_manage "migrate --check --noinput" || { SMOKE_FAIL_MESSAGE="schema drift: unapplied migrations in staging" fail "schema drift: unapplied migrations in staging"; }
 
 echo "[smoke] gameplay flow via management command"
-(
-  cd "${APP_DIR}"
-  .venv/bin/python manage.py smoke_staging
-) || { SMOKE_FAIL_MESSAGE="manage.py smoke_staging failed" fail "manage.py smoke_staging failed"; }
+run_manage "smoke_staging" || { SMOKE_FAIL_MESSAGE="manage.py smoke_staging failed" fail "manage.py smoke_staging failed"; }
 
 echo "[smoke] OK"