diff --git a/scripts/ops-health.sh b/scripts/ops-health.sh
index 5cee3d2..42daf66 100755
--- a/scripts/ops-health.sh
+++ b/scripts/ops-health.sh
@@ -62,6 +62,11 @@ human_age() {
   else echo "$((s / 86400))d"; fi
 }
 
+# Age of a file in seconds, or empty when it doesn't exist.
+file_age() {
+  [ -f "$1" ] && echo $(( $(date +%s) - $(cat "$1" 2>/dev/null || echo 0) )) || echo ""
+}
+
 cd "$REPO" 2>/dev/null || { echo "ops-health: repo not found: $REPO" >&2; exit 2; }
 now=$(date +%s)
 
@@ -153,8 +158,13 @@ else
         p "      ${DIM}→ reason: ${sk_reason}${N}" ;;
     esac
   else
-    p "      ${Y}no skip reason recorded — the deploy timer may not be running.${N}"
-    problems+=("deploy pending with no recorded reason"); signature+="noreason;"
+    r_age="$(file_age "$RUN_FILE")"
+    if [ -n "$r_age" ] && [ "$r_age" -lt 360 ]; then
+      p "      ${DIM}waiting for the next deploy tick (~every 3m)…${N}"
+    else
+      p "      ${Y}no skip reason recorded and the deploy script hasn't run recently — the timer may be stopped.${N}"
+      problems+=("deploy pending with no recorded reason"); signature+="noreason;"
+    fi
   fi
 fi