diff --git a/src/slurmctld/read_config.c b/src/slurmctld/read_config.c
index 3c3c39dd32956983b35b47ed132929755d3c3d58..53cd69210c83bfdbdd41f6fa7f53aee692a2cdb4 100644
--- a/src/slurmctld/read_config.c
+++ b/src/slurmctld/read_config.c
@@ -1957,7 +1957,8 @@ static int _sync_nodes_to_active_job(struct job_record *job_ptr)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (IS_JOB_RUNNING(job_ptr) || IS_JOB_SUSPENDED(job_ptr))
+	if ((IS_JOB_RUNNING(job_ptr) || IS_JOB_SUSPENDED(job_ptr)) &&
+	    (job_ptr->front_end_ptr != NULL))
 		job_ptr->front_end_ptr->job_cnt_run++;
 
 	return cnt;