diff --git a/.changelog/24620.txt b/.changelog/24620.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f9c4c07e838
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/24620.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:bug
+ui: Fix an issue where system jobs with garbage-collected allocations were showing as Scaled Down
+```
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' };
     }
 
diff --git a/ui/tests/acceptance/jobs-list-test.js b/ui/tests/acceptance/jobs-list-test.js
index 19843a9bc8a..56f488d15b4 100644
--- a/ui/tests/acceptance/jobs-list-test.js
+++ b/ui/tests/acceptance/jobs-list-test.js
@@ -707,6 +707,14 @@ module('Acceptance | jobs list', function (hooks) {
       status: 'dead',
     });
 
+    server.create('job', {
+      ...defaultJobParams,
+      id: 'ancient-system-job',
+      status: 'dead',
+      type: 'system',
+      groupAllocCount: 0,
+    });
+
     await JobsList.visit();
 
     assert
@@ -742,6 +750,9 @@ module('Acceptance | jobs list', function (hooks) {
     assert
       .dom('[data-test-job-row="scaled-down-job"] [data-test-job-status]')
       .hasText('Scaled Down', 'Scaled down job is scaled down');
+    assert
+      .dom('[data-test-job-row="ancient-system-job"] [data-test-job-status]')
+      .hasText('Failed', 'System job with no allocs is failed');
 
     await percySnapshot(assert);
   });