diff --git a/.changelog/17198.txt b/.changelog/17198.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7b8fba50841e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/17198.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:bug
+scheduler: Fixed a bug where scores for spread scheduling could be -Inf
+```
diff --git a/scheduler/spread.go b/scheduler/spread.go
index 5bc50b970414..b2f4e8a8074b 100644
--- a/scheduler/spread.go
+++ b/scheduler/spread.go
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ type SpreadIterator struct {
 	// blocks
 	sumSpreadWeights int32
 
+	// lowestSpreadBoost tracks the lowest spread boost across all spread blocks
+	lowestSpreadBoost float64
+
 	// hasSpread is used to early return when the job/task group
 	// does not have spread configured
 	hasSpread bool
@@ -53,6 +56,7 @@ func NewSpreadIterator(ctx Context, source RankIterator) *SpreadIterator {
 		source:            source,
 		groupPropertySets: make(map[string][]*propertySet),
 		tgSpreadInfo:      make(map[string]spreadAttributeMap),
+		lowestSpreadBoost: -1.0,
 	}
 	return iter
 }
@@ -114,6 +118,7 @@ func (iter *SpreadIterator) hasSpreads() bool {
 }
 
 func (iter *SpreadIterator) Next() *RankedNode {
+
 	for {
 		option := iter.source.Next()
 
@@ -162,7 +167,7 @@ func (iter *SpreadIterator) Next() *RankedNode {
 					desiredCount, ok = spreadDetails.desiredCounts[implicitTarget]
 					if !ok {
 						// The desired count for this attribute is zero if it gets here
-						// so use the maximum possible penalty for this node
+						// so use the default negative penalty for this node
 						totalSpreadScore -= 1.0
 						continue
 					}
@@ -171,12 +176,20 @@ func (iter *SpreadIterator) Next() *RankedNode {
 				// Calculate the relative weight of this specific spread attribute
 				spreadWeight := float64(spreadDetails.weight) / float64(iter.sumSpreadWeights)
 
+				if desiredCount == 0 {
+					totalSpreadScore += iter.lowestSpreadBoost
+					continue
+				}
+
 				// Score Boost is proportional the difference between current and desired count
 				// It is negative when the used count is greater than the desired count
 				// It is multiplied with the spread weight to account for cases where the job has
 				// more than one spread attribute
 				scoreBoost := ((desiredCount - float64(usedCount)) / desiredCount) * spreadWeight
 				totalSpreadScore += scoreBoost
+				if scoreBoost < iter.lowestSpreadBoost {
+					iter.lowestSpreadBoost = scoreBoost
+				}
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/scheduler/spread_test.go b/scheduler/spread_test.go
index ea581b9a1513..5fa39b6714b6 100644
--- a/scheduler/spread_test.go
+++ b/scheduler/spread_test.go
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/helper/uuid"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/nomad/mock"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/nomad/structs"
+	"github.com/shoenig/test"
+	"github.com/shoenig/test/must"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
@@ -558,6 +560,104 @@ func TestSpreadIterator_MaxPenalty(t *testing.T) {
 
 }
 
+func TestSpreadIterator_NoInfinity(t *testing.T) {
+	ci.Parallel(t)
+
+	store, ctx := testContext(t)
+	var nodes []*RankedNode
+
+	// Add 3 nodes in different DCs to the state store
+	for i := 1; i < 4; i++ {
+		node := mock.Node()
+		node.Datacenter = fmt.Sprintf("dc%d", i)
+		must.NoError(t, store.UpsertNode(structs.MsgTypeTestSetup, uint64(100+i), node))
+		nodes = append(nodes, &RankedNode{Node: node})
+	}
+
+	static := NewStaticRankIterator(ctx, nodes)
+
+	job := mock.Job()
+	tg := job.TaskGroups[0]
+	job.TaskGroups[0].Count = 8
+
+	// Create spread target of 50% in dc1, 50% in dc2, and 0% in the implicit target
+	spread := &structs.Spread{
+		Weight:    100,
+		Attribute: "${node.datacenter}",
+		SpreadTarget: []*structs.SpreadTarget{
+			{
+				Value:   "dc1",
+				Percent: 50,
+			},
+			{
+				Value:   "dc2",
+				Percent: 50,
+			},
+			{
+				Value:   "*",
+				Percent: 0,
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	tg.Spreads = []*structs.Spread{spread}
+	spreadIter := NewSpreadIterator(ctx, static)
+	spreadIter.SetJob(job)
+	spreadIter.SetTaskGroup(tg)
+
+	scoreNorm := NewScoreNormalizationIterator(ctx, spreadIter)
+
+	out := collectRanked(scoreNorm)
+
+	// Scores should be even between dc1 and dc2 nodes, without an -Inf on dc3
+	must.Len(t, 3, out)
+	test.Eq(t, 0.75, out[0].FinalScore)
+	test.Eq(t, 0.75, out[1].FinalScore)
+	test.Eq(t, -1, out[2].FinalScore)
+
+	// Reset scores
+	for _, node := range nodes {
+		node.Scores = nil
+		node.FinalScore = 0
+	}
+
+	// Create very unbalanced spread target to force large negative scores
+	spread = &structs.Spread{
+		Weight:    100,
+		Attribute: "${node.datacenter}",
+		SpreadTarget: []*structs.SpreadTarget{
+			{
+				Value:   "dc1",
+				Percent: 99,
+			},
+			{
+				Value:   "dc2",
+				Percent: 1,
+			},
+			{
+				Value:   "*",
+				Percent: 0,
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	tg.Spreads = []*structs.Spread{spread}
+	static = NewStaticRankIterator(ctx, nodes)
+	spreadIter = NewSpreadIterator(ctx, static)
+	spreadIter.SetJob(job)
+	spreadIter.SetTaskGroup(tg)
+
+	scoreNorm = NewScoreNormalizationIterator(ctx, spreadIter)
+
+	out = collectRanked(scoreNorm)
+
+	// Scores should heavily favor dc1, with an -Inf on dc3
+	must.Len(t, 3, out)
+	desired := 8 * 0.99 // 8 allocs * 99%
+	test.Eq(t, (desired-1)/desired, out[0].FinalScore)
+	test.Eq(t, -11.5, out[1].FinalScore)
+	test.LessEq(t, out[1].FinalScore, out[2].FinalScore,
+		test.Sprintf("expected implicit dc3 to be <= dc2"))
+}
+
 func Test_evenSpreadScoreBoost(t *testing.T) {
 	ci.Parallel(t)