diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy-staging.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy-staging.yml
index 806f2273e..2e2e3418f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy-staging.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy-staging.yml
@@ -53,17 +53,6 @@ jobs:
       TF_VAR_region: ${{ vars.AWS_REGION }}
       TF_VAR_environment: ${{ vars.ENV_SHORT_NAME }}
       TF_VAR_name_prefix: "tb-${{ vars.PROJECT_SHORT_NAME }}-${{ vars.ENV_SHORT_NAME }}"
-      TF_VAR_app_env: ${{ vars.APP_ENV }}
-      TF_VAR_db_enc_secret: ${{ vars.DB_ENCRYPTED_SECRET }}
-      TF_VAR_frontend_url: ${{ vars.FRONTEND_URL }}
-      TF_VAR_fxa_secret: ${{ vars.FXA_SECRET }}
-      TF_VAR_google_oauth_secret: ${{ vars.GOOGLE_OAUTH_SECRET }}
-      TF_VAR_log_level: ${{ vars.LOG_LEVEL }}
-      TF_VAR_short_base_url: ${{ vars.SHORT_BASE_URL }}
-      TF_VAR_smtp_secret: ${{ vars.SMTP_SECRET }}
-      TF_VAR_zoom_callback: ${{ vars.ZOOM_CALLBACK }}
-      TF_VAR_zoom_secret: ${{ vars.zoom_secret }}
-      TF_VAR_sentry_dsn: ${{ vars.SENTRY_DSN }}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
@@ -136,6 +125,10 @@ jobs:
       needs.detect-changes.outputs.deploy-frontend == 'true'
     environment: staging
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      TF_VAR_region: ${{ vars.AWS_REGION }}
+      TF_VAR_environment: ${{ vars.ENV_SHORT_NAME }}
+      TF_VAR_name_prefix: "tb-${{ vars.PROJECT_SHORT_NAME }}-${{ vars.ENV_SHORT_NAME }}"
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
@@ -283,7 +276,9 @@ jobs:
       - detect-changes
       - deploy-backend
       - deploy-frontend
-    if: needs.detect-changes.outputs.deploy-app == 'true'
+    if: |
+      needs.detect-changes.outputs.deploy-backend == 'true' &&
+      needs.detect-changes.outputs.deploy-frontend == 'true'
     environment: staging
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps: