diff --git a/misc/tools.func b/misc/tools.func
index adb7a5ac4..64669fad1 100644
--- a/misc/tools.func
+++ b/misc/tools.func
@@ -2544,7 +2544,7 @@ fetch_and_deploy_gh_tag() {
 
   mkdir -p "$target"
   if [[ "${CLEAN_INSTALL:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
-    rm -rf "${target:?}/"*
+    find "${target:?}" -mindepth 1 -delete
   fi
 
   tar --no-same-owner -xzf "$tmpdir/$filename" -C "$tmpdir" || {
@@ -2737,7 +2737,7 @@ fetch_and_deploy_gl_tag() {
 
   mkdir -p "$target"
   if [[ "${CLEAN_INSTALL:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
-    rm -rf "${target:?}/"*
+    find "${target:?}" -mindepth 1 -delete
   fi
 
   tar --no-same-owner -xzf "$tmpdir/$filename" -C "$tmpdir" || {
@@ -3472,7 +3472,7 @@ fetch_and_deploy_codeberg_release() {
 
     mkdir -p "$target"
     if [[ "${CLEAN_INSTALL:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
-      rm -rf "${target:?}/"*
+      find "${target:?}" -mindepth 1 -delete
     fi
 
     tar --no-same-owner -xzf "$tmpdir/$filename" -C "$tmpdir" || {
@@ -3575,7 +3575,7 @@ fetch_and_deploy_codeberg_release() {
 
     mkdir -p "$target"
     if [[ "${CLEAN_INSTALL:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
-      rm -rf "${target:?}/"*
+      find "${target:?}" -mindepth 1 -delete
     fi
 
     tar --no-same-owner -xzf "$tmpdir/$filename" -C "$tmpdir" || {
@@ -3694,7 +3694,7 @@ fetch_and_deploy_codeberg_release() {
     unpack_tmp=$(mktemp -d)
     mkdir -p "$target"
     if [[ "${CLEAN_INSTALL:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
-      rm -rf "${target:?}/"*
+      find "${target:?}" -mindepth 1 -delete
     fi
 
     if [[ "$filename" == *.zip ]]; then
@@ -4112,7 +4112,7 @@ fetch_and_deploy_gh_release() {
 
     mkdir -p "$target"
     if [[ "${CLEAN_INSTALL:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
-      rm -rf "${target:?}/"*
+      find "${target:?}" -mindepth 1 -delete
     fi
 
     tar --no-same-owner -xzf "$tmpdir/$filename" -C "$tmpdir" || {
@@ -4292,7 +4292,7 @@ fetch_and_deploy_gh_release() {
     unpack_tmp=$(mktemp -d)
     mkdir -p "$target"
     if [[ "${CLEAN_INSTALL:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
-      rm -rf "${target:?}/"*
+      find "${target:?}" -mindepth 1 -delete
     fi
 
     if [[ "$filename" == *.zip ]]; then
@@ -7157,7 +7157,7 @@ setup_meilisearch() {
         MEILI_DB_PATH="${MEILI_DB_PATH:-/var/lib/meilisearch/data}"
 
         msg_info "Removing old MeiliSearch database for migration"
-        rm -rf "${MEILI_DB_PATH:?}"/*
+        find "${MEILI_DB_PATH:?}" -mindepth 1 -delete
 
         # Import dump using CLI flag (this is the supported method)
         local DUMP_FILE="${MEILI_DUMP_DIR}/${DUMP_UID}.dump"
@@ -9131,6 +9131,16 @@ setup_uv() {
       msg_ok "uvx wrapper installed"
     fi
 
+    # Install specific Python version if requested (even when uv is already up to date)
+    if [[ -n "${PYTHON_VERSION:-}" ]]; then
+      msg_info "Installing Python $PYTHON_VERSION via uv"
+      $STD uv python install "$PYTHON_VERSION" || {
+        msg_error "Failed to install Python $PYTHON_VERSION"
+        return 150
+      }
+      msg_ok "Python $PYTHON_VERSION installed"
+    fi
+
     return 0
   fi
 
@@ -9390,7 +9400,7 @@ fetch_and_deploy_from_url() {
   mkdir -p "$directory"
 
   if [[ "${CLEAN_INSTALL:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
-    rm -rf "${directory:?}/"*
+    find "${directory:?}" -mindepth 1 -delete
   fi
 
   local unpack_tmp
@@ -9966,7 +9976,7 @@ fetch_and_deploy_gl_release() {
 
     mkdir -p "$target"
     if [[ "${CLEAN_INSTALL:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
-      rm -rf "${target:?}/"*
+      find "${target:?}" -mindepth 1 -delete
     fi
 
     tar --no-same-owner -xzf "$tmpdir/$filename" -C "$tmpdir" || {
@@ -10128,7 +10138,7 @@ fetch_and_deploy_gl_release() {
     unpack_tmp=$(mktemp -d)
     mkdir -p "$target"
     if [[ "${CLEAN_INSTALL:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
-      rm -rf "${target:?}/"*
+      find "${target:?}" -mindepth 1 -delete
     fi
 
     if [[ "$filename" == *.zip ]]; then