diff --git a/docs/stack-files.md b/docs/stack-files.md
index ef096cc..66fdfa3 100644
--- a/docs/stack-files.md
+++ b/docs/stack-files.md
@@ -371,4 +371,10 @@ Every service in a deployment is reachable from every other service by its servi
 `gitea` service (located in another pod in the same deployment) at the hostname `gitea`.
 
 This works the same way whether the deployment target is Docker Compose or Kubernetes: on Kubernetes each deployment
-gets its own namespace, so the unqualified service name resolves within it.
\ No newline at end of file
+gets its own namespace, so the unqualified service name resolves within it.
+
+Declaring `ports:` is not what makes a service addressable.  A service with no `ports:` at all -- a database whose
+port nothing outside the deployment should reach, say -- still answers to its own name on both targets; on Kubernetes
+it gets a headless Service (no cluster IP, no ports) whose name resolves to the pod.  So there is no need to publish
+a port merely to obtain a hostname, which on the Compose target would also publish it on the host under
+`--map-ports-to-host`.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/stack/deploy/k8s/cluster_info.py b/src/stack/deploy/k8s/cluster_info.py
index 5a5ceea..d763349 100644
--- a/src/stack/deploy/k8s/cluster_info.py
+++ b/src/stack/deploy/k8s/cluster_info.py
@@ -243,22 +243,27 @@ def get_services(self):
             services = pod["services"]
             for service_name in services:
                 service_info = services[service_name]
-                if "ports" in service_info:
-                    int_ports = [int(p.split(":")[-1].replace("/udp", "")) for p in service_info["ports"]]
-                    svc_ports = [client.V1ServicePort(port=p, target_port=p, name=f"{service_name}-{p}") for p in int_ports]
-                    service = client.V1Service(
-                        metadata=client.V1ObjectMeta(
-                            name=service_name,
-                            labels={"app": self.app_name, "service": service_name},
-                        ),
-                        spec=client.V1ServiceSpec(
-                            type="ClusterIP",
-                            ports=svc_ports,
-                            # TODO: For balancing, we should use some sort of shared tag among pods of the same type
-                            selector={"app": self.app_name, "service": service_name},
-                        ),
-                    )
-                    ret.append(service)
+                int_ports = [int(p.split(":")[-1].replace("/udp", "")) for p in service_info.get("ports", [])]
+                svc_ports = [client.V1ServicePort(port=p, target_port=p, name=f"{service_name}-{p}") for p in int_ports]
+                # A service that declares no ports still needs a name: every service
+                # reaches every other by service name on both targets, and on compose
+                # that holds whether or not a port is published.  A headless Service
+                # (no cluster IP, no ports) resolves the name to the pod's own IP,
+                # which is the closest k8s equivalent.
+                service = client.V1Service(
+                    metadata=client.V1ObjectMeta(
+                        name=service_name,
+                        labels={"app": self.app_name, "service": service_name},
+                    ),
+                    spec=client.V1ServiceSpec(
+                        type="ClusterIP",
+                        cluster_ip=None if svc_ports else "None",
+                        ports=svc_ports if svc_ports else None,
+                        # TODO: For balancing, we should use some sort of shared tag among pods of the same type
+                        selector={"app": self.app_name, "service": service_name},
+                    ),
+                )
+                ret.append(service)
         return ret
 
     def get_pvcs(self):
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_k8s_objects.py b/tests/unit/test_k8s_objects.py
index a522b5a..30b8502 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_k8s_objects.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_k8s_objects.py
@@ -109,7 +109,15 @@ def test_service_strips_udp_suffix_from_port(tmp_path):
     assert svc["spec"]["ports"] == [{"name": "dns-53", "port": 53, "targetPort": 53}]
 
 
-def test_service_omitted_when_no_ports(tmp_path):
+def test_service_is_headless_when_no_ports(tmp_path):
+    """A service with no ports is still addressable by name (issue #280).
+
+    Compose gives every container on the network a DNS name whether or not a
+    port is published, and the stack file contract says a service reaches every
+    other by service name.  On k8s that costs a headless Service; without one
+    the name simply does not resolve, and the failure surfaces as a DNS error
+    inside whichever container tried to connect.
+    """
     pod = """\
         services:
           worker:
@@ -117,7 +125,11 @@ def test_service_omitted_when_no_ports(tmp_path):
         """
     cluster_info = make_cluster_info(tmp_path, pod, k8s_spec())
 
-    assert cluster_info.get_services() == []
+    svc = k8s_dict(cluster_info.get_services()[0])
+    assert svc["metadata"]["name"] == "worker"
+    assert svc["spec"]["clusterIP"] == "None"
+    assert svc["spec"].get("ports") is None
+    assert svc["spec"]["selector"] == {"app": TEST_CLUSTER_ID, "service": "worker"}
 
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------