diff --git a/workflow/controller/artifact_gc.go b/workflow/controller/artifact_gc.go
index cc98a422d7dd..be0f30b89368 100644
--- a/workflow/controller/artifact_gc.go
+++ b/workflow/controller/artifact_gc.go
@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@ func (woc *wfOperationCtx) processArtifactGCCompletion(ctx context.Context) erro
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get pods from informer: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	anyPodSuccess := false
+	anyPodSuccess := len(pods) == 0
 	for _, obj := range pods {
 		pod := obj.(*corev1.Pod)
 		if pod.Labels[common.LabelKeyComponent] != artifactGCComponent { // make sure it's an Artifact GC Pod