diff --git a/src/fgai/dashboard.py b/src/fgai/dashboard.py
index e73e341..4c9d511 100644
--- a/src/fgai/dashboard.py
+++ b/src/fgai/dashboard.py
@@ -628,6 +628,7 @@ async function refresh() {
     configuration.log_source === 'graylog_mcp' && mcp.status !== 'refreshing' && enabledStreams.length > 0 && displayedRawEvents === 0 ? `<span class="sev-high">No raw events fetched from enabled streams. Check poll window, Graylog query, stream permissions, and Diagnostics -> Stream Coverage.</span>` : '',
     enabledWithNoRawEvents.length && mcp.status !== 'refreshing' ? `<span class="sev-high">${esc(enabledWithNoRawEvents.length)} enabled stream(s) returned zero raw events in ${esc(zeroRawWindow)}.</span>` : '',
     mcp.coverage_warning ? `<span class="sev-high">${esc(mcp.coverage_warning)}</span>` : '',
+    advisor.status === 'heuristic_fallback' ? `Profile advisor: heuristic fallback (${esc(advisor.error || 'advisor unavailable')})` : '',
     advisor.status === 'error' ? `<span class="sev-high">Profile advisor error: ${esc(advisor.error || 'unknown error')}</span>` : ''
   ].filter(Boolean).join('<br>');
   document.getElementById('health').innerHTML = [
diff --git a/src/fgai/monitor.py b/src/fgai/monitor.py
index fb0ef55..420a9fe 100644
--- a/src/fgai/monitor.py
+++ b/src/fgai/monitor.py
@@ -432,7 +432,13 @@ def build_status(
             profile_suggestions = apply_profile_advice(profile_suggestions, advice)
             profile_advisor_status = {"enabled": True, "status": "ok" if advice else "empty", "profiles_returned": len(advice), "model": str(runtime_values.get("profile_advisor_model", "") or "qwen3:8b")}
         except Exception as exc:
-            profile_advisor_status = {"enabled": True, "status": "error", "error": str(exc), "model": str(runtime_values.get("profile_advisor_model", "") or "qwen3:8b")}
+            profile_advisor_status = {
+                "enabled": True,
+                "status": "heuristic_fallback",
+                "error": str(exc),
+                "model": str(runtime_values.get("profile_advisor_model", "") or "qwen3:8b"),
+                "candidates": len(advisor_candidates),
+            }
             for suggestion in profile_suggestions:
                 suggestion.setdefault("profile_advisor", {"status": "heuristic", "error": str(exc)})
     intel_ips = sorted(
diff --git a/tests/test_dashboard.py b/tests/test_dashboard.py
index 674815e..b78c470 100644
--- a/tests/test_dashboard.py
+++ b/tests/test_dashboard.py
@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@ class DashboardTests(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertIn("No enabled streams were saved", HTML)
         self.assertIn("streams with existing profiles are selected for recovery", HTML)
 
+    def test_dashboard_shows_profile_advisor_fallback_as_notice(self):
+        self.assertIn("heuristic_fallback", HTML)
+        self.assertIn("Profile advisor: heuristic fallback", HTML)
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()
diff --git a/tests/test_monitor.py b/tests/test_monitor.py
index f32cb49..7543726 100644
--- a/tests/test_monitor.py
+++ b/tests/test_monitor.py
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ class MonitorTests(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(status["llm_assessment"]["status"], "ok")
         self.assertEqual(status["llm_assessment"]["text"], "looks noisy")
 
-    def test_profile_advisor_status_records_error(self):
+    def test_profile_advisor_status_records_heuristic_fallback(self):
         with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
             log_path = Path(tmp) / "events.log"
             log_path.write_text("fgai_stream_id=windows fgai_stream=Windows username=alice eventid=4625 action=failure\n", encoding="utf-8")
@@ -207,8 +207,9 @@ class MonitorTests(unittest.TestCase):
                 status = build_status(str(log_path), config_path=str(config_path), incident_path=str(Path(tmp) / "incidents.json"))
 
             advisor = status["capabilities"]["profile_advisor"]
-            self.assertEqual(advisor["status"], "error")
+            self.assertEqual(advisor["status"], "heuristic_fallback")
             self.assertIn("timeout", advisor["error"])
+            self.assertEqual(advisor["candidates"], 1)
             self.assertEqual(status["profile_suggestions"][0]["profile_advisor"]["status"], "heuristic")
             self.assertIn("timeout", status["profile_suggestions"][0]["profile_advisor"]["error"])