diff --git a/plugins/nf-google/src/main/nextflow/cloud/google/batch/GoogleBatchTaskHandler.groovy b/plugins/nf-google/src/main/nextflow/cloud/google/batch/GoogleBatchTaskHandler.groovy
index 389f2247b6..4a773d2410 100644
--- a/plugins/nf-google/src/main/nextflow/cloud/google/batch/GoogleBatchTaskHandler.groovy
+++ b/plugins/nf-google/src/main/nextflow/cloud/google/batch/GoogleBatchTaskHandler.groovy
@@ -444,11 +444,27 @@ class GoogleBatchTaskHandler extends TaskHandler implements FusionAwareTask {
      * @return Retrieve the submitted task state
      */
     protected String getTaskState() {
-        final tasks = client.listTasks(jobId)
-        if( !tasks.iterator().hasNext() )
-            return 'PENDING'
-
         final now = System.currentTimeMillis()
+        final tasks = client.listTasks(jobId)
+        if( !tasks.iterator().hasNext() ) {
+            // if there are no tasks checks the job status
+            final jobStatus = client.getJobStatus(jobId);
+            final newState = jobStatus?.state as String
+            if (newState) {
+                taskState = newState
+                timestamp = now
+                if (newState == "FAILED"){
+                    final eventsCount = jobStatus.getStatusEventsCount()
+                    final lastEvent = eventsCount > 0 ? jobStatus.getStatusEvents(eventsCount - 1) : null
+                    if (lastEvent){
+                        log.warn1 "Batch job failure: ${lastEvent.getDescription()}"
+                    }
+                }
+                return taskState
+            } else {
+                return "PENDING"
+            }
+        }
         final delta =  now - timestamp;
         if( !taskState || delta >= 1_000) {
             final status = client.getTaskStatus(jobId, taskId)
diff --git a/plugins/nf-google/src/main/nextflow/cloud/google/batch/client/BatchClient.groovy b/plugins/nf-google/src/main/nextflow/cloud/google/batch/client/BatchClient.groovy
index 405b249d9b..3173ba9b8d 100644
--- a/plugins/nf-google/src/main/nextflow/cloud/google/batch/client/BatchClient.groovy
+++ b/plugins/nf-google/src/main/nextflow/cloud/google/batch/client/BatchClient.groovy
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import com.google.cloud.batch.v1.BatchServiceClient
 import com.google.cloud.batch.v1.BatchServiceSettings
 import com.google.cloud.batch.v1.Job
 import com.google.cloud.batch.v1.JobName
+import com.google.cloud.batch.v1.JobStatus
 import com.google.cloud.batch.v1.LocationName
 import com.google.cloud.batch.v1.Task
 import com.google.cloud.batch.v1.TaskGroupName
@@ -123,6 +124,10 @@ class BatchClient {
         return describeTask(jobId, taskId).getStatus()
     }
 
+    JobStatus getJobStatus(String jobId){
+        return describeJob(jobId).getStatus();
+    }
+
     String getTaskState(String jobId, String taskId) {
         final status = getTaskStatus(jobId, taskId)
         return status ? status.getState().toString() : null