diff --git a/webui/plugins/podman/ajax/settings.php b/webui/plugins/podman/ajax/settings.php
index 6848406..16b5314 100644
--- a/webui/plugins/podman/ajax/settings.php
+++ b/webui/plugins/podman/ajax/settings.php
@@ -86,6 +86,25 @@ switch ($action) {
  * @return array{running: bool, output: string}
  */
 function rc_podman(string $verb, int $timeoutSeconds): array
+{
+    $output = run_rc_podman($verb, $timeoutSeconds);
+
+    // Only `rc.podman status` prints the "service:             running
+    // (pid ..., socket ...)" line this regex looks for — start/stop/
+    // restart's OWN messages are worded differently ("start: already
+    // running (pid ...)", "stop: stopped", ...), so relying on THIS same
+    // regex against THEIR output silently reported "not running" right
+    // after a successful start (found live: a start that printed "start:
+    // already running" turned the status chip red). Always running a
+    // fresh `status` afterward — regardless of which verb was actually
+    // requested — is the one output format this check can trust.
+    $statusOutput = $verb === 'status' ? $output : run_rc_podman('status', 15);
+    $running = (bool) preg_match('/service:\s+running/', $statusOutput);
+
+    return ['running' => $running, 'output' => $output];
+}
+
+function run_rc_podman(string $verb, int $timeoutSeconds): string
 {
     $descriptors = [1 => ['pipe', 'w'], 2 => ['pipe', 'w']];
     $process = proc_open([RC_PODMAN, $verb], $descriptors, $pipes);
@@ -100,13 +119,7 @@ function rc_podman(string $verb, int $timeoutSeconds): array
     fclose($pipes[2]);
     proc_close($process);
 
-    $combined = trim($stdout . $stderr);
-    // rc.podman status/start both print "service: running (pid ..., socket ...)"
-    // on success — cheaper and more honest than re-implementing the same
-    // socket/pid check PHP-side when the shell script already did it.
-    $running = (bool) preg_match('/service:\s+running/', $combined);
-
-    return ['running' => $running, 'output' => $combined];
+    return trim($stdout . $stderr);
 }
 
 /** @return array<string,mixed> */