diff --git a/roles/facts/files/memory.fact b/roles/facts/files/memory.fact
index ced76c126..dad229622 100644
--- a/roles/facts/files/memory.fact
+++ b/roles/facts/files/memory.fact
@@ -1,2 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-echo "{ \"total_mb\": $(free -m | grep Mem: | awk '{print $2*0.95}') }"
\ No newline at end of file
+# printf "%d" keeps the value an integer regardless of locale: the default
+# awk print emits a float whose decimal separator follows LC_NUMERIC, which
+# on comma-decimal locales produces invalid JSON and breaks the local fact.
+echo "{ \"total_mb\": $(free -m | awk '/^Mem:/ {printf "%d", $2*0.95}') }"
diff --git a/roles/slurm/templates/etc/slurm/slurm.conf b/roles/slurm/templates/etc/slurm/slurm.conf
index 73015cd96..91d946007 100644
--- a/roles/slurm/templates/etc/slurm/slurm.conf
+++ b/roles/slurm/templates/etc/slurm/slurm.conf
@@ -133,6 +133,10 @@ GresTypes=gpu
 {% endif %}
 {% for node_name in groups['slurm-node'] %}
 {% set memory =  hostvars[node_name]["ansible_local"]["memory"] -%}
+{# If the custom fact failed JSON parsing Ansible hands us a string;
+   parse it here so a bad fact fails loudly instead of with an opaque
+   attribute error on total_mb. -#}
+{% if memory is string %}{% set memory = memory | from_json -%}{% endif -%}
 {% set cpu_topology =  hostvars[node_name]["ansible_local"]["topology"]["cpu_topology"] -%}
 {% set gpu_topology =  hostvars[node_name]["ansible_local"]["topology"]["gpu_topology"] -%}
     NodeName={{ node_name }}{{ " " -}}