diff --git a/ZB.MOM.WW.Health/Directory.Build.props b/ZB.MOM.WW.Health/Directory.Build.props
index 88c5a32..667743a 100644
--- a/ZB.MOM.WW.Health/Directory.Build.props
+++ b/ZB.MOM.WW.Health/Directory.Build.props
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
     <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
     <LangVersion>latest</LangVersion>
-    <Version>0.2.0</Version>
+    <Version>0.2.1</Version>
     <ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>true</ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>
     <!-- Emit XML docs so the public API summaries ship inside the packed nupkgs (IntelliSense for
          consumers). CS1591 (missing doc on a public member) is suppressed so undocumented test /
diff --git a/ZB.MOM.WW.Health/src/ZB.MOM.WW.Health.Akka/ActiveNodeHealthCheck.cs b/ZB.MOM.WW.Health/src/ZB.MOM.WW.Health.Akka/ActiveNodeHealthCheck.cs
index df76da4..7fde344 100644
--- a/ZB.MOM.WW.Health/src/ZB.MOM.WW.Health.Akka/ActiveNodeHealthCheck.cs
+++ b/ZB.MOM.WW.Health/src/ZB.MOM.WW.Health.Akka/ActiveNodeHealthCheck.cs
@@ -33,8 +33,17 @@ internal static class ActiveNodeDecision
     /// <returns>
     /// Role-less: Healthy iff the node is Up and the cluster leader, otherwise Unhealthy.
     /// Role-filtered: Healthy when the node lacks the role (probe irrelevant) or carries the role and
-    /// is the role-singleton leader; Degraded when it carries the role but is not the leader.
+    /// is the role-singleton leader; <strong>Unhealthy</strong> when it carries the role but is not
+    /// the leader.
     /// </returns>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// The role-member-but-not-leader case returns Unhealthy, not Degraded, because the active tier's
+    /// whole purpose is to be a 503 that an orchestrator can act on — the shared spec states it as
+    /// "Fails (503) on a standby or role-member-but-not-leader node", and the same spec maps Degraded
+    /// to 200. Returning Degraded made the tier answer 200 on every node, so a load balancer pointed
+    /// at it (OtOpcUa's Traefik routes the admin UI this way) kept the standby in the pool and its
+    /// leader-pinning silently never worked. Found on a live rig; see lmxopcua#494.
+    /// </remarks>
     public static HealthStatus Evaluate(bool selfUp, bool isLeader, bool hasRole, string? requiredRole)
     {
         if (requiredRole is null)
@@ -43,7 +52,7 @@ internal static class ActiveNodeDecision
         if (!hasRole)
             return HealthStatus.Healthy;
 
-        return isLeader ? HealthStatus.Healthy : HealthStatus.Degraded;
+        return isLeader ? HealthStatus.Healthy : HealthStatus.Unhealthy;
     }
 }
 
@@ -79,8 +88,9 @@ public sealed class ActiveNodeHealthCheck : IHealthCheck
 
     /// <summary>
     /// Role-filtered constructor: Healthy when the node lacks <paramref name="role"/> or carries it
-    /// and is the role-singleton leader; Degraded when it carries the role but is not the leader
-    /// (OtOpcUa AdminRoleLeader pattern). Degraded when the ActorSystem / cluster is not yet ready.
+    /// and is the role-singleton leader; Unhealthy (503) when it carries the role but is not the
+    /// leader (OtOpcUa AdminRoleLeader pattern). Degraded when the ActorSystem / cluster is not yet
+    /// ready.
     /// </summary>
     /// <param name="serviceProvider">
     /// The application service provider. The <see cref="ActorSystem"/> is resolved lazily so the
diff --git a/ZB.MOM.WW.Health/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.Health.Akka.Tests/ActiveNodeDecisionTests.cs b/ZB.MOM.WW.Health/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.Health.Akka.Tests/ActiveNodeDecisionTests.cs
index 2cb5fab..8a93cf1 100644
--- a/ZB.MOM.WW.Health/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.Health.Akka.Tests/ActiveNodeDecisionTests.cs
+++ b/ZB.MOM.WW.Health/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.Health.Akka.Tests/ActiveNodeDecisionTests.cs
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ public sealed class ActiveNodeDecisionTests
     // Role-filtered: requiredRole != null.
     //   lacks role               -> Healthy (probe irrelevant for this node)
     //   has role & is leader     -> Healthy (selfUp is ignored — role-filtered mode only cares about leadership)
-    //   has role & not leader    -> Degraded
+    //   has role & not leader    -> Unhealthy (503) — the tier exists to be a 503 an LB can act on
     public static IEnumerable<object[]> RoleFilteredCases() => new[]
     {
         // node lacks the role -> Healthy regardless of selfUp / isLeader
@@ -43,9 +43,11 @@ public sealed class ActiveNodeDecisionTests
         new object[] { true, true, true, "admin", HealthStatus.Healthy },
         // node carries the role and is leader -> Healthy (selfUp=false: role-filtered mode ignores selfUp)
         new object[] { false, true, true, "admin", HealthStatus.Healthy },
-        // node carries the role but is not leader -> Degraded
-        new object[] { true, false, true, "admin", HealthStatus.Degraded },
-        new object[] { false, false, true, "admin", HealthStatus.Degraded },
+        // Node carries the role but is not leader -> Unhealthy, i.e. HTTP 503.
+        // Degraded would be a 200 (see the shared health SPEC), which made the active tier answer
+        // 200 on every node and silently broke OtOpcUa's Traefik leader-pinning. lmxopcua#494.
+        new object[] { true, false, true, "admin", HealthStatus.Unhealthy },
+        new object[] { false, false, true, "admin", HealthStatus.Unhealthy },
     };
 
     [Theory]