diff --git a/flyteplugins/go/tasks/pluginmachinery/flytek8s/pod_helper.go b/flyteplugins/go/tasks/pluginmachinery/flytek8s/pod_helper.go
index db7d63de5e..307c288c99 100644
--- a/flyteplugins/go/tasks/pluginmachinery/flytek8s/pod_helper.go
+++ b/flyteplugins/go/tasks/pluginmachinery/flytek8s/pod_helper.go
@@ -1157,6 +1157,13 @@ func DemystifyFailure(ctx context.Context, status v1.PodStatus, info pluginsCore
 		}
 	}
 
+	// If the code remains 'UnknownError', it indicates that the kubelet did not have a chance
+	// to record a more specific failure before the node was terminated or preempted.
+	// In such cases, we classify the error as system-level and accept false positives
+	if code == "UnknownError" {
+		isSystemError = true
+	}
+
 	if isSystemError {
 		logger.Warnf(ctx, "Pod failed with a system error. Code: %s, Message: %s", code, message)
 		return pluginsCore.PhaseInfoSystemRetryableFailure(Interrupted, message, &info), nil
diff --git a/flyteplugins/go/tasks/pluginmachinery/flytek8s/pod_helper_test.go b/flyteplugins/go/tasks/pluginmachinery/flytek8s/pod_helper_test.go
index ab823ac5a0..74f4b307f7 100644
--- a/flyteplugins/go/tasks/pluginmachinery/flytek8s/pod_helper_test.go
+++ b/flyteplugins/go/tasks/pluginmachinery/flytek8s/pod_helper_test.go
@@ -1627,8 +1627,8 @@ func TestDemystifyFailure(t *testing.T) {
 		phaseInfo, err := DemystifyFailure(ctx, v1.PodStatus{}, pluginsCore.TaskInfo{}, "")
 		assert.Nil(t, err)
 		assert.Equal(t, pluginsCore.PhaseRetryableFailure, phaseInfo.Phase())
-		assert.Equal(t, "UnknownError", phaseInfo.Err().GetCode())
-		assert.Equal(t, core.ExecutionError_USER, phaseInfo.Err().GetKind())
+		assert.Equal(t, "Interrupted", phaseInfo.Err().Code)
+		assert.Equal(t, core.ExecutionError_SYSTEM, phaseInfo.Err().Kind)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("known-error", func(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/flyteplugins/go/tasks/plugins/k8s/pod/container_test.go b/flyteplugins/go/tasks/plugins/k8s/pod/container_test.go
index 39a98b3862..dc604e3587 100644
--- a/flyteplugins/go/tasks/plugins/k8s/pod/container_test.go
+++ b/flyteplugins/go/tasks/plugins/k8s/pod/container_test.go
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ func TestContainerTaskExecutor_GetTaskStatus(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.Equal(t, pluginsCore.PhaseRetryableFailure, phaseInfo.Phase())
 		ec := phaseInfo.Err().GetCode()
-		assert.Equal(t, "UnknownError", ec)
+		assert.Equal(t, "Interrupted", ec)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("failConditionUnschedulable", func(t *testing.T) {