diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 57782e4..4873dd7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ An action for building Hugo websites. Build your site from a source branch and d
 
 This action supports deploying to the same repository or pushing build data to a submodule. It's great for automating Hugo site builds and maintaining a separate release branch.
 
+**v2.1 Fix:** Build process no longer throws an error when there are no changes to commit. Safe exit instead. This was mainly done to prevent the whole workflow from failing.
+
 ## Updates in v2
 
 [See wiki for more info on these changes.](https://github.com/aormsby/hugo-deploy-to-pages/wiki))
@@ -98,7 +100,7 @@ jobs:
         # <<fetch-depth: '0' currently required until shallow clone problems are solved>>
         
     - name: Build site and push to release branch
-      uses: aormsby/hugo-deploy-to-pages@v2
+      uses: aormsby/hugo-deploy-to-pages@v2.1
       id: build_step  # <<for outputs>>
       with:
         source_branch: 'main'
diff --git a/hugo-deploy.code-workspace b/hugo-deploy.code-workspace
index 1a6e457..d79cdcc 100644
--- a/hugo-deploy.code-workspace
+++ b/hugo-deploy.code-workspace
@@ -20,10 +20,7 @@
 			"titleBar.activeForeground": "#15202b",
 			"titleBar.inactiveBackground": "#c26fb099",
 			"titleBar.inactiveForeground": "#15202b99",
-			"editorGroup.border": "#d193c4",
-			"panel.border": "#d193c4",
 			"sash.hoverBorder": "#d193c4",
-			"sideBar.border": "#d193c4",
 			"statusBarItem.remoteBackground": "#c26fb0",
 			"statusBarItem.remoteForeground": "#15202b"
 		},
diff --git a/run/deploy.sh b/run/deploy.sh
index a71efee..ab9412d 100644
--- a/run/deploy.sh
+++ b/run/deploy.sh
@@ -30,8 +30,9 @@ commit_with_message() {
     COMMAND_STATUS=$?
 
     if [ "${COMMAND_STATUS}" != 0 ]; then
-        # exit on git commit fail
-        write_out "${COMMAND_STATUS}" "Git commit step failed in '${1}' directory. Check output and try again."
+        # safe exit on git commit fail, but with warning
+        write_out "y" "Git commit step failed in '${1}' directory. It's possible there were no changes to commit, so a safe exit is assumed."
+        write_out 0 'No changes since last build. Exiting gracefully.'
     fi
 }