diff --git a/src/dstack/_internal/core/models/fleets.py b/src/dstack/_internal/core/models/fleets.py
index 0bb3103b47..32a6761bb4 100644
--- a/src/dstack/_internal/core/models/fleets.py
+++ b/src/dstack/_internal/core/models/fleets.py
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ def dict(self, *args, **kwargs) -> Dict:
         res = CoreModel.dict(self, *args, **kwargs)
         # For backward compatibility with old clients
         # that do not ignore extra fields due to https://github.com/dstackai/dstack/issues/3066
-        if hasattr(res, "target") and res["target"] == res["min"]:
+        if "target" in res and res["target"] == res["min"]:
             del res["target"]
         return res
 
diff --git a/src/tests/_internal/server/routers/test_fleets.py b/src/tests/_internal/server/routers/test_fleets.py
index e4b5192cf9..33fc73e019 100644
--- a/src/tests/_internal/server/routers/test_fleets.py
+++ b/src/tests/_internal/server/routers/test_fleets.py
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ async def test_creates_fleet(self, test_db, session: AsyncSession, client: Async
             "spec": {
                 "configuration_path": spec.configuration_path,
                 "configuration": {
-                    "nodes": {"min": 1, "target": 1, "max": 1},
+                    "nodes": {"min": 1, "max": 1},
                     "placement": None,
                     "env": {},
                     "ssh_config": None,