diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_book.yml b/.github/workflows/build_book.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index a1a872213..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/build_book.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,78 +0,0 @@
-name: Rebuild and deploy book to gh-pages branch
-on:
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - production
-    paths:
-      - 'index.Rmd'
-      - '_bookdown.yml'
-      - '_output.yml'
-      - 'source/*.Rmd'
-      - 'source/*.bib'
-      - 'source/*.css'
-      - 'data/**'
-      - 'img/**'
-      - 'build_html.sh'
-      
-jobs:
-  deploy-book:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: write
-      packages: write
-
-    steps:
-      - name: Get Actions user id
-        id: get_uid
-        run: |
-          actions_user_id=`id -u $USER`
-          echo $actions_user_id
-          echo "uid=$actions_user_id" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          
-      - name: checkout production
-        uses: actions/checkout@v2
-        with:
-          ref: 'production'
-          
-      - name: Build the book
-        run: |
-          ./build_html.sh
-
-      - name: Reset ownership of workspace after build
-        uses: peter-murray/reset-workspace-ownership-action@v1
-        with:
-          user_id: ${{ steps.get_uid.outputs.uid }}
-
-       # Push the book's HTML to github-pages
-      - name: GitHub Pages action
-        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3.8.0
-        with:
-          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          publish_dir: docs/
-          force_orphan: true # this will clean up all previous PR previews / main branch preview
-          cname: datasciencebook.ca
-
-      # rebuild the dev version after the previous copy was cleaned out
-      - name: checkout main
-        uses: actions/checkout@v2
-        with:
-          ref: 'main'
-          
-      - name: Build the book
-        run: |
-          ./build_html.sh
-          
-      - name: Reset ownership of workspace after build
-        uses: peter-murray/reset-workspace-ownership-action@v1
-        with:
-          user_id: ${{ steps.get_uid.outputs.uid }}
-
-       # Push the book's HTML to github-pages
-      - name: GitHub Pages action
-        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3.8.0
-        with:
-          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          publish_dir: docs/
-          keep_files: true 
-          destination_dir: dev
-
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update_book.yml b/.github/workflows/update_book.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c5a8de583
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/update_book.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+name: Rebuild and deploy book to gh-pages branch
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - production
+    paths:
+      - 'index.Rmd'
+      - '_bookdown.yml'
+      - '_output.yml'
+      - 'source/*.Rmd'
+      - 'source/*.bib'
+      - 'source/*.css'
+      - 'data/**'
+      - 'img/**'
+      - 'build_html.sh'
+      
+jobs:
+  deploy-book:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      packages: write
+
+    steps:
+      - name: checkout gh-pages
+        uses: actions/checkout@v2
+        with:
+          ref: 'gh-pages'
+
+      - name: Copy contents of dev/ to home folder
+        run: |
+          yes | cp -rf dev ${{ runner.home }}
+
+      # Push update website to dev/ and clean out old commits
+      - name: Update website to contents of dev, remove all old commits and subpages
+        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3.8.0
+        with:
+          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          publish_dir: dev/
+          force_orphan: true # this will clean up all previous PR previews / main branch preview
+          cname: datasciencebook.ca
+
+      - name: copy dev/ website back in
+        run: |
+          yes | cp -rf ${{ runner.home }}/dev dev
+
+      - name: push the result to gh-pages
+        uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v5