diff --git a/containers/libreportal/frontend/js/components/admin/admin-system.js b/containers/libreportal/frontend/js/components/admin/admin-system.js
index b764f1d..46b05c7 100644
--- a/containers/libreportal/frontend/js/components/admin/admin-system.js
+++ b/containers/libreportal/frontend/js/components/admin/admin-system.js
@@ -201,11 +201,26 @@ class AdminSystem {
                     <svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="14" height="14"><path d="M3 9V3h6M21 9V3h-6M3 15v6h6M21 15v6h-6" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"/></svg>
                 </span>
              </button>`;
+
+        // Load is read relative to core count: a load equal to the number of
+        // cores means "fully used, no queue" — normal, not alarming. Only flag
+        // it red once load clearly exceeds capacity (tasks genuinely queuing).
+        // The ring fills toward 2x cores so load == cores sits mid-gauge
+        // instead of maxing out (which read as a constant red alarm on a
+        // low-core box). The old backend load1_percent capped at cores == 100%,
+        // so anything near capacity pinned the gauge red.
+        const cores = cpu.cores || 1;
+        const load1 = Number(cpu.load1 ?? 0);
+        const loadRatio = load1 / cores;
+        const loadColor = loadRatio >= 1.7 ? 'status-danger'
+                        : loadRatio >= 1.0 ? 'status-warning'
+                        : 'status-success';
+
         return `
             ${wrap('cpu',   C.gauge(cpu.percent || 0, { label: 'CPU', sublabel: `${cpu.cores || '?'} cores` }))}
             ${wrap('mem',   C.gauge(mem.percent || 0, { label: 'Memory', sublabel: `${this.bytes(mem.used)} / ${this.bytes(mem.total)}` }))}
             ${wrap('disk',  C.gauge(rootDisk.percent || 0, { label: 'Disk', sublabel: rootDisk.mount || '/' }))}
-            ${wrap('load1', C.gauge(cpu.load1_percent || 0, { label: 'Load', display: (cpu.load1 ?? 0), suffix: '', sublabel: `1m · ${cpu.load5 ?? '–'}/${cpu.load15 ?? '–'}` }))}`;
+            ${wrap('load1', C.gauge(load1, { label: 'Load', display: load1.toFixed(2), suffix: '', max: cores * 2, color: loadColor, sublabel: `1m · ${cpu.load5 ?? '–'}/${cpu.load15 ?? '–'}` }))}`;
     }
 
     _applyLive(s) {