diff --git a/pkg/workloads/statuses/file_status.go b/pkg/workloads/statuses/file_status.go
index 38aabd0d4..442521a56 100644
--- a/pkg/workloads/statuses/file_status.go
+++ b/pkg/workloads/statuses/file_status.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
-	"io"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
@@ -94,14 +93,17 @@ func (f *fileStatusManager) isRemoteWorkload(ctx context.Context, workloadName s
 	}
 	defer reader.Close()
 
-	// Read the configuration data
-	data, err := io.ReadAll(reader)
-	if err != nil {
+	// Parse the JSON to check for remote_url field
+	var config struct {
+		RemoteURL string `json:"remote_url"`
+	}
+	decoder := json.NewDecoder(reader)
+	if err := decoder.Decode(&config); err != nil {
 		return false, err
 	}
 
-	// Check if the JSON contains "remote_url" field
-	return strings.Contains(string(data), `"remote_url"`), nil
+	// Check if the remote_url field is set
+	return strings.TrimSpace(config.RemoteURL) != "", nil
 }
 
 // remoteWorkloadConfig is a minimal struct to parse only the fields we need from RunConfig
diff --git a/pkg/workloads/statuses/file_status_test.go b/pkg/workloads/statuses/file_status_test.go
index 628897f84..1c247545e 100644
--- a/pkg/workloads/statuses/file_status_test.go
+++ b/pkg/workloads/statuses/file_status_test.go
@@ -1867,3 +1867,62 @@ func TestFileStatusManager_ListWorkloads_PIDMigration(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	assert.Equal(t, existingPID, statusFile2.ProcessID, "PID should remain unchanged for second workload")
 }
+
+func TestFileStatusManager_IsRemoteWorkload_EdgeCases(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name       string
+		configJSON string
+		expected   bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:       "remote workload with URL",
+			configJSON: `{"remote_url": "https://example.com"}`,
+			expected:   true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "local workload without remote_url field",
+			configJSON: `{"name": "test-workload"}`,
+			expected:   false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "edge case - remote_url in string value (false positive with old implementation)",
+			configJSON: `{"description": "Set \"remote_url\" in config to enable remote mode"}`,
+			expected:   false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "remote_url field is empty string",
+			configJSON: `{"remote_url": ""}`,
+			expected:   false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "remote_url field with whitespace only",
+			configJSON: `{"remote_url": "   "}`,
+			expected:   false,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		tt := tt
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+
+			// Test the JSON parsing logic directly
+			var config struct {
+				RemoteURL string `json:"remote_url"`
+			}
+
+			err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(tt.configJSON), &config)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("failed to parse JSON: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			result := strings.TrimSpace(config.RemoteURL) != ""
+
+			if result != tt.expected {
+				t.Errorf("expected %v, got %v for JSON: %s", tt.expected, result, tt.configJSON)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}