diff --git a/awx/api/serializers.py b/awx/api/serializers.py
index 6535ba6f56..41d29d06ce 100644
--- a/awx/api/serializers.py
+++ b/awx/api/serializers.py
@@ -3356,7 +3356,7 @@ class SystemJobSerializer(UnifiedJobSerializer):
 
     class Meta:
         model = SystemJob
-        fields = ('*', 'system_job_template', 'job_type', 'extra_vars', 'result_stdout')
+        fields = ('*', 'system_job_template', 'job_type', 'extra_vars', 'result_stdout', '-controller_node',)
 
     def get_related(self, obj):
         res = super(SystemJobSerializer, self).get_related(obj)
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_job.py b/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_job.py
index be8f7134ea..00114e044d 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_job.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_job.py
@@ -13,9 +13,8 @@ from awx.main.models import (
     JobTemplate,
     User,
     Job,
-    ProjectUpdate,
     AdHocCommand,
-    InventoryUpdate,
+    ProjectUpdate,
 )
 
 from crum import impersonate
@@ -182,7 +181,11 @@ class TestControllerNode():
         return AdHocCommand.objects.create(inventory=inventory)
 
     @pytest.mark.django_db
-    def test_field_controller_node_exists(self, admin_user, job, project_update, inventory_update, adhoc, get):
+    def test_field_controller_node_exists(self, sqlite_copy_expert,
+                                          admin_user, job, project_update,
+                                          inventory_update, adhoc, get, system_job_factory):
+        system_job = system_job_factory()
+
         r = get(reverse('api:unified_job_list') + '?id={}'.format(job.id), admin_user, expect=200)
         assert 'controller_node' in r.data['results'][0]
 
@@ -197,3 +200,6 @@ class TestControllerNode():
 
         r = get(reverse('api:inventory_update_detail', kwargs={'pk': inventory_update.pk}), admin_user, expect=200)
         assert 'controller_node' not in r.data
+
+        r = get(reverse('api:system_job_detail', kwargs={'pk': system_job.pk}), admin_user, expect=200)
+        assert 'controller_node' not in r.data
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_unified_jobs_stdout.py b/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_unified_jobs_stdout.py
index 3f1a5760fc..b465f92606 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_unified_jobs_stdout.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_unified_jobs_stdout.py
@@ -3,11 +3,8 @@
 import base64
 import json
 import re
-import shutil
-import tempfile
 
 from django.conf import settings
-from django.db.backends.sqlite3.base import SQLiteCursorWrapper
 import mock
 import pytest
 
@@ -31,28 +28,6 @@ def _mk_inventory_update():
     return iu
 
 
-@pytest.fixture(scope='function')
-def sqlite_copy_expert(request):
-    # copy_expert is postgres-specific, and SQLite doesn't support it; mock its
-    # behavior to test that it writes a file that contains stdout from events
-    path = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix='job-event-stdout')
-
-    def write_stdout(self, sql, fd):
-        # simulate postgres copy_expert support with ORM code
-        parts = sql.split(' ')
-        tablename = parts[parts.index('from') + 1]
-        for cls in (JobEvent, AdHocCommandEvent, ProjectUpdateEvent,
-                    InventoryUpdateEvent, SystemJobEvent):
-            if cls._meta.db_table == tablename:
-                for event in cls.objects.order_by('start_line').all():
-                    fd.write(event.stdout.encode('utf-8'))
-
-    setattr(SQLiteCursorWrapper, 'copy_expert', write_stdout)
-    request.addfinalizer(lambda: shutil.rmtree(path))
-    request.addfinalizer(lambda: delattr(SQLiteCursorWrapper, 'copy_expert'))
-    return path
-
-
 @pytest.mark.django_db
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('Parent, Child, relation, view', [
     [Job, JobEvent, 'job', 'api:job_stdout'],
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/functional/conftest.py b/awx/main/tests/functional/conftest.py
index 28d7b65564..4b91564312 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/functional/conftest.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/functional/conftest.py
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import mock
 import json
 import os
 import six
+import tempfile
+import shutil
 from datetime import timedelta
 from six.moves import xrange
 
@@ -14,6 +16,7 @@ from django.utils import timezone
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.serializers.json import DjangoJSONEncoder
+from django.db.backends.sqlite3.base import SQLiteCursorWrapper
 from jsonbfield.fields import JSONField
 
 # AWX
@@ -44,6 +47,13 @@ from awx.main.models.notifications import (
     NotificationTemplate,
     Notification
 )
+from awx.main.models.events import (
+    JobEvent,
+    AdHocCommandEvent,
+    ProjectUpdateEvent,
+    InventoryUpdateEvent,
+    SystemJobEvent,
+)
 from awx.main.models.workflow import WorkflowJobTemplate
 from awx.main.models.ad_hoc_commands import AdHocCommand
 from awx.main.models.oauth import OAuth2Application as Application
@@ -729,3 +739,26 @@ def oauth_application(admin):
         name='test app', user=admin, client_type='confidential',
         authorization_grant_type='password'
     )
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def sqlite_copy_expert(request):
+    # copy_expert is postgres-specific, and SQLite doesn't support it; mock its
+    # behavior to test that it writes a file that contains stdout from events
+    path = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix='job-event-stdout')
+
+    def write_stdout(self, sql, fd):
+        # simulate postgres copy_expert support with ORM code
+        parts = sql.split(' ')
+        tablename = parts[parts.index('from') + 1]
+        for cls in (JobEvent, AdHocCommandEvent, ProjectUpdateEvent,
+                    InventoryUpdateEvent, SystemJobEvent):
+            if cls._meta.db_table == tablename:
+                for event in cls.objects.order_by('start_line').all():
+                    fd.write(event.stdout.encode('utf-8'))
+
+    setattr(SQLiteCursorWrapper, 'copy_expert', write_stdout)
+    request.addfinalizer(lambda: shutil.rmtree(path))
+    request.addfinalizer(lambda: delattr(SQLiteCursorWrapper, 'copy_expert'))
+    return path
+