diff --git a/harness/dashboard.py b/harness/dashboard.py
index 6ad451e..04d1351 100644
--- a/harness/dashboard.py
+++ b/harness/dashboard.py
@@ -294,7 +294,9 @@ def render(d):
     tasks_with_run = {r["task"] for r in rows}
     backlog = sum(1 for l in logs if l.get("accepted") and l["id"] not in tasks_with_run)
     alive = any("harness.pipeline" in p for p in d["procs"])
-    status, scls = ("RUNNING", "ok") if alive and not d["stopped"] else (("STOPPED", "er") if d["stopped"] else ("NOT RUNNING", "er"))
+    if alive:      # a STOPPED.txt of an earlier run does not count while a controller runs
+        d["stopped"] = None
+    status, scls = ("RUNNING", "ok") if alive else (("STOPPED", "er") if d["stopped"] else ("NOT RUNNING", "er"))
     hints = sum(e["hints"] for e in evs)
     ctx = sorted(e["ctx"] for e in acc if e["ctx"])
     next50 = (n_acc // 50 + 1) * 50