diff --git a/src/cli/program/routes.test.ts b/src/cli/program/routes.test.ts
index 9442785b083..843c0257da4 100644
--- a/src/cli/program/routes.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/program/routes.test.ts
@@ -13,9 +13,20 @@ describe("program routes", () => {
     await expect(route?.run(argv)).resolves.toBe(false);
   }
 
-  it("matches status route and preserves plugin loading", () => {
+  it("matches status route and loads plugins for human-readable output", () => {
     const route = expectRoute(["status"]);
-    expect(route?.loadPlugins).toBe(true);
+    expect(typeof route?.loadPlugins).toBe("function");
+    const loadPlugins = route?.loadPlugins;
+    if (typeof loadPlugins !== "function") {
+      throw new Error("expected status route loadPlugins predicate");
+    }
+    expect(loadPlugins(["node", "openclaw", "status"])).toBe(true);
+    expect(loadPlugins(["node", "openclaw", "status", "--json"])).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("matches health route without eager plugin loading", () => {
+    const route = expectRoute(["health"]);
+    expect(route?.loadPlugins).toBeUndefined();
   });
 
   it("returns false when status timeout flag value is missing", async () => {