diff --git a/src/fides/api/api/v1/endpoints/system.py b/src/fides/api/api/v1/endpoints/system.py
index 0171265eda..266f23e1c5 100644
--- a/src/fides/api/api/v1/endpoints/system.py
+++ b/src/fides/api/api/v1/endpoints/system.py
@@ -19,7 +19,11 @@
 
 from fides.api.api import deps
 from fides.api.api.v1.endpoints.saas_config_endpoints import instantiate_connection
-from fides.api.db.crud import get_resource, get_resource_with_custom_fields
+from fides.api.db.crud import (
+    get_resource,
+    get_resource_with_custom_fields,
+    list_resource,
+)
 from fides.api.db.ctl_session import get_async_db
 from fides.api.db.system import (
     create_system,
@@ -396,6 +400,20 @@ async def ls(  # pylint: disable=invalid-name
     Otherwise all Systems will be returned (this may be a slow operation if there are many systems,
     so using the pagination parameters is recommended).
     """
+    if not (
+        size
+        or page
+        or search
+        or data_uses
+        or data_categories
+        or data_subjects
+        or dnd_relevant
+        or show_hidden
+    ):
+        # if no advanced parameters are passed, we return a very basic list of all System resources
+        # to maintain backward compatibility of the original API, which backs some important client usages, e.g. the fides CLI
+
+        return await list_resource(System, db)
 
     query = select(System)
 
@@ -447,19 +465,6 @@ async def ls(  # pylint: disable=invalid-name
     # Add a distinct so we only get one row per system
     duplicates_removed = filtered_query.distinct(System.id)
 
-    if not (
-        size
-        or page
-        or search
-        or data_uses
-        or data_categories
-        or data_subjects
-        or dnd_relevant
-        or show_hidden
-    ):
-        result = await db.execute(duplicates_removed)
-        return result.scalars().all()
-
     return await async_paginate(db, duplicates_removed, pagination_params)