diff --git a/lib/cmd_deploy.sh b/lib/cmd_deploy.sh
index 7b297d4..8ced835 100644
--- a/lib/cmd_deploy.sh
+++ b/lib/cmd_deploy.sh
@@ -563,12 +563,20 @@ cmd_status() {
   local env_file="$CMD_ENV_FILE"
   local env_name="$CMD_ENV_NAME"
   local services="$CMD_SERVICES"
-  validate_env_file "$env_file"
+  local json_flag="$CMD_JSON"
 
   # Prefer remote execution for stacks that map to a VPS host, so status
   # reflects the real remote containers instead of the (empty) local daemon.
+  # Check this before validating the env file: a topology-only stack
+  # (VPS_HOST/host layer supplied entirely via strut.conf [stacks]/[hosts],
+  # no base per-env file on disk) is a valid config for this read-only
+  # command and shouldn't hard-fail before we even know we're dispatching
+  # remote.
   if should_dispatch_remote; then
     local remote_args="status"
+    if [ -n "$json_flag" ]; then
+      remote_args="$remote_args --json"
+    fi
     if [ -n "$services" ]; then
       remote_args="$remote_args --services $services"
     fi
@@ -576,6 +584,10 @@ cmd_status() {
     return $?
   fi
 
+  # Local path: we're not dispatching remote, so an explicitly-requested but
+  # missing env file (e.g. a typo'd --env) must still fail loudly here.
+  validate_env_file "$env_file"
+
   # Local path: query the local Docker daemon and show where we're looking.
   # Blue-green stacks run under a <stack>-<env>-<color> project — target
   # the active color, not the plain <stack>-<env> project (strut#384).
diff --git a/tests/test_cmd_status_remote.bats b/tests/test_cmd_status_remote.bats
index 3defece..c3a2505 100644
--- a/tests/test_cmd_status_remote.bats
+++ b/tests/test_cmd_status_remote.bats
@@ -191,8 +191,33 @@ EOF
   [[ "$output" == *"full"* ]]
 }
 
-@test "cmd_status: fails gracefully when env file missing" {
+@test "cmd_status: --json flag forwarded to remote" {
+  export VPS_HOST="vps.example.com"
+  export CMD_JSON="--json"
+
+  run cmd_status
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == *"--json"* ]]
+}
+
+# strut#501: a topology-only stack (VPS_HOST supplied entirely via
+# strut.conf [stacks]/[hosts], no base per-env file on disk) is a valid,
+# read-only-command-friendly config — matches cmd_health's tolerance below.
+# Previously cmd_status hard-failed here instead of dispatching remote.
+@test "cmd_status: dispatches via SSH when env file is missing but VPS_HOST is set" {
   export CMD_ENV_FILE="$TEST_TMP/nonexistent.env"
+  export VPS_HOST="vps.example.com"
+
+  run cmd_status
+  [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+  [[ "$output" == *"ssh"* ]]
+  [[ "$output" == *"status"* ]]
+}
+
+@test "cmd_status: fails gracefully when env file is missing and VPS_HOST is empty" {
+  export CMD_ENV_FILE="$TEST_TMP/nonexistent.env"
+  export VPS_HOST=""
+
   run cmd_status
   [[ "$output" == *"not found"* ]] || [ "$status" -ne 0 ]
 }