diff --git a/checks/process_check.sh b/checks/process_check.sh
index 75ee4b0..e907554 100644
--- a/checks/process_check.sh
+++ b/checks/process_check.sh
@@ -13,10 +13,24 @@ if ! command -v systemctl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   exit 0
 fi
 
-STATE=$(systemctl is-active "$SERVICE" 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
+# `systemctl is-active` PRINTS the state and exits non-zero when the unit is
+# not active, so `... || echo unknown` appended a second line and produced
+# "paperless is inactive\nunknown" — a raw newline inside a JSON string, which
+# the scheduler rejected as invalid output. head -1 keeps the first line and
+# the fallback only fires when there was no output at all.
+STATE=$(systemctl is-active "$SERVICE" 2>/dev/null | head -1 || true)
+[ -z "$STATE" ] && STATE="unknown"
+# Belt and braces: a unit name or state containing a quote would break the
+# hand-built JSON below just as thoroughly.
+STATE=${STATE//\"/}
+SAFE_SERVICE=${SERVICE//\"/}
 
 if [ "$STATE" = "active" ]; then
   echo "{\"health\":\"healthy\"}"
 else
-  echo "{\"health\":\"degraded\",\"signalKind\":\"$SERVICE\",\"evidence\":\"$SERVICE is $STATE\"}"
+  # signalKind is a taxonomy, not a per-service label. Emitting "$SERVICE"
+  # here minted a distinct signal kind for every service (kind=paperless,
+  # kind=qbit, …), which no approval_rule can match and which makes
+  # "how many process checks are failing?" unanswerable.
+  echo "{\"health\":\"degraded\",\"signalKind\":\"process\",\"evidence\":\"$SAFE_SERVICE is $STATE\"}"
 fi