diff --git a/scripts/bootstrap-common.sh b/scripts/bootstrap-common.sh
index 16b396f..a67df08 100755
--- a/scripts/bootstrap-common.sh
+++ b/scripts/bootstrap-common.sh
@@ -130,9 +130,12 @@ call_recenter() {
   local cumvol
   cumvol="$(cast call --rpc-url "$ANVIL_RPC" \
     "$LIQUIDITY_MANAGER" "cumulativeVolume()(uint256)" 2>/dev/null || echo "0")"
-  # Normalise to decimal: cast returns decimal for typed calls but cast to-dec handles
-  # both decimal and hex (0x...) inputs, guarding against future cast output changes.
-  cumvol="$(cast to-dec "$cumvol" 2>/dev/null || echo "0")"
+  # cast call with a typed (uint256) selector returns a plain decimal string for
+  # non-zero values (e.g. "140734553600000") and "0" for zero.  A simple != "0"
+  # check is sufficient; note that the output may include a scientific-notation
+  # annotation (e.g. "140734553600000 [1.407e14]") which is also != "0", so we
+  # do NOT attempt to parse it further with cast to-dec (which would fail on the
+  # annotation and incorrectly fall back to "0").
   if [[ "$cumvol" != "0" && -n "$cumvol" ]]; then
     bootstrap_log "VWAP already bootstrapped by deploy script (cumulativeVolume=$cumvol) -- skipping initial recenter"
     return 0