diff --git a/entrypoint.sh b/entrypoint.sh
index 6719a6f1..5e1de23a 100755
--- a/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/entrypoint.sh
@@ -25,6 +25,15 @@ org="${INPUT_ORG:-${FLY_ORG:-personal}}"
 image="$INPUT_IMAGE"
 config="${INPUT_CONFIG:-fly.toml}"
 
+
+# only wait for the deploy to complete if the user has requested the wait option
+# otherwise detach so the GitHub action doesn't run as long
+if [ "$INPUT_WAIT" = "true" ]; then
+  detach=""
+else
+  detach="--detach"
+fi
+
 if ! echo "$app" | grep "$PR_NUMBER"; then
   echo "For safety, this action requires the app's name to contain the PR number."
   exit 1
@@ -56,9 +65,9 @@ fi
 # Trigger the deploy of the new version.
 echo "Contents of config $config file: " && cat "$config"
 if [ -n "$INPUT_VM" ]; then
-  flyctl deploy --config "$config" --app "$app" --regions "$region" --image "$image" --strategy immediate --ha=$INPUT_HA --vm-size "$INPUT_VMSIZE"
+  flyctl deploy $detach --config "$config" --app "$app" --regions "$region" --image "$image" --strategy immediate --ha=$INPUT_HA --vm-size "$INPUT_VMSIZE"
 else
-  flyctl deploy --config "$config" --app "$app" --regions "$region" --image "$image" --strategy immediate --ha=$INPUT_HA --vm-cpu-kind "$INPUT_CPUKIND" --vm-cpus $INPUT_CPU --vm-memory "$INPUT_MEMORY"
+  flyctl deploy $detach --config "$config" --app "$app" --regions "$region" --image "$image" --strategy immediate --ha=$INPUT_HA --vm-cpu-kind "$INPUT_CPUKIND" --vm-cpus $INPUT_CPU --vm-memory "$INPUT_MEMORY"
 fi
 
 # Make some info available to the GitHub workflow.