diff --git a/awx/api/serializers.py b/awx/api/serializers.py
index 9be03b0982..37fc6f3487 100644
--- a/awx/api/serializers.py
+++ b/awx/api/serializers.py
@@ -2968,7 +2968,14 @@ class SystemJobSerializer(UnifiedJobSerializer):
         return res
 
     def get_result_stdout(self, obj):
-        return obj.result_stdout
+        try:
+            return obj.result_stdout
+        except StdoutMaxBytesExceeded as e:
+            return _(
+                "Standard Output too large to display ({text_size} bytes), "
+                "only download supported for sizes over {supported_size} bytes").format(
+                    text_size=e.total, supported_size=e.supported
+            )
 
 
 class SystemJobCancelSerializer(SystemJobSerializer):
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 99b5619a7f..6cec0ab4fe 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_unified_jobs_stdout.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/functional/api/test_unified_jobs_stdout.py
@@ -158,6 +158,24 @@ def test_text_stdout_from_system_job_events(sqlite_copy_expert, get, admin):
     assert response.data['result_stdout'].splitlines() == ['Testing %d' % i for i in range(3)]
 
 
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+def test_text_stdout_with_max_stdout(sqlite_copy_expert, get, admin):
+    job = SystemJob()
+    job.save()
+    total_bytes = settings.STDOUT_MAX_BYTES_DISPLAY + 1
+    large_stdout = 'X' * total_bytes
+    SystemJobEvent(system_job=job, stdout=large_stdout, start_line=0).save()
+    url = reverse('api:system_job_detail', kwargs={'pk': job.pk})
+    response = get(url, user=admin, expect=200)
+    assert response.data['result_stdout'] == (
+        'Standard Output too large to display ({actual} bytes), only download '
+        'supported for sizes over {max} bytes'.format(
+            actual=total_bytes,
+            max=settings.STDOUT_MAX_BYTES_DISPLAY
+        )
+    )
+
+
 @pytest.mark.django_db
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('Parent, Child, relation, view', [
     [Job, JobEvent, 'job', 'api:job_stdout'],