diff --git a/ui/app/components/job-status/panel/steady.js b/ui/app/components/job-status/panel/steady.js
index d90fb220b0d..e6bc185731a 100644
--- a/ui/app/components/job-status/panel/steady.js
+++ b/ui/app/components/job-status/panel/steady.js
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ export default class JobStatusPanelSteadyComponent extends Component {
       };
     }
 
-    if (this.totalAllocs === 0) {
+    if (this.totalAllocs === 0 && !this.job.hasClientStatus) {
       return {
         label: 'Scaled Down',
         state: 'neutral',
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ export default class JobStatusPanelSteadyComponent extends Component {
     }
 
     const healthyAllocs = this.allocBlocks.running?.healthy?.nonCanary;
-    if (healthyAllocs?.length === totalAllocs) {
+    if (healthyAllocs?.length && healthyAllocs?.length === totalAllocs) {
       return { label: 'Healthy', state: 'success' };
     }
 
diff --git a/ui/app/models/job.js b/ui/app/models/job.js
index 007c8a699b5..afc4a12fb60 100644
--- a/ui/app/models/job.js
+++ b/ui/app/models/job.js
@@ -251,7 +251,11 @@ export default class Job extends Model {
 
     // If the job is scaled down to 0 desired allocations, we shouldn't call it "failed";
     // we should indicate that it is deliberately set to not have any running parts.
-    if (totalAllocs === 0) {
+    // System/Sysbatch jobs (hasClientStatus) get their totalAllocs from expectedRunningAllocCount,
+    // which is a best-guess-based-on-whats-running number. This means that if there are no current allocs,
+    // because they've been GC'd, we don't know if they were deliberately scaled down or failed.
+    // Safer in this case to show as failed rather than imply a deliberate scale-down.
+    if (totalAllocs === 0 && !this.hasClientStatus) {
       return { label: 'Scaled Down', state: 'neutral' };
     }