diff --git a/src/commands/doctor-gateway-health.test.ts b/src/commands/doctor-gateway-health.test.ts
index 3a84d6170eb..4cd21a5dd94 100644
--- a/src/commands/doctor-gateway-health.test.ts
+++ b/src/commands/doctor-gateway-health.test.ts
@@ -96,6 +96,25 @@ describe("probeGatewayMemoryStatus", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("propagates checked: false when gateway skipped the embedding probe", async () => {
+    // Gateway returns checked: false when called with probe: false and no cached
+    // availability data (SKIPPED_MEMORY_EMBEDDING_PROBE shape).
+    callGateway.mockResolvedValue({
+      embedding: {
+        ok: false,
+        checked: false,
+        error:
+          "memory embedding readiness not checked; run `openclaw memory status --deep` to probe",
+      },
+    });
+
+    await expect(probeGatewayMemoryStatus({ cfg })).resolves.toEqual({
+      checked: false,
+      ready: false,
+      error: expect.stringContaining("not checked"),
+    });
+  });
+
   it("keeps gateway request timeouts as explicit failures", async () => {
     callGateway.mockRejectedValue(new Error("gateway request timeout for doctor.memory.status"));
 
diff --git a/src/commands/doctor-gateway-health.ts b/src/commands/doctor-gateway-health.ts
index 12469d383c2..86a78131978 100644
--- a/src/commands/doctor-gateway-health.ts
+++ b/src/commands/doctor-gateway-health.ts
@@ -86,8 +86,14 @@ export async function probeGatewayMemoryStatus(params: {
       timeoutMs,
       config: params.cfg,
     });
+    // Propagate the gateway's checked flag. When the gateway skips the embedding
+    // probe (probe: false path), it returns checked: false to signal that no
+    // readiness determination was made. Mapping that to checked: true here would
+    // cause the renderer to treat a skipped probe as a checked-but-not-ready
+    // failure and emit a false-positive warning for key-optional providers.
+    const gatewayChecked = payload.embedding.checked !== false;
     return {
-      checked: true,
+      checked: gatewayChecked,
       ready: payload.embedding.ok,
       error: payload.embedding.error,
     };