diff --git a/router/src/infer.rs b/router/src/infer.rs
index 8b44ec86..ce5c5dce 100644
--- a/router/src/infer.rs
+++ b/router/src/infer.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@ use flume::SendError;
 use futures::future::try_join_all;
 use futures::stream::StreamExt;
 use nohash_hasher::IntMap;
-use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::sync::{
+    atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering},
+    Arc,
+};
 use text_generation_client::{
     Batch, ClientError, GeneratedText, Generation, PrefillTokens, ShardedClient,
 };
@@ -27,6 +30,8 @@ pub struct Infer {
     shared: Arc<Shared>,
     /// Inference limit
     limit_concurrent_requests: Arc<Semaphore>,
+    /// Has done roundtrip valid run
+    healthy: Arc<AtomicBool>,
 }
 
 /// Infer shared state
@@ -63,15 +68,25 @@ impl Infer {
 
         // Inference limit with a semaphore
         let semaphore = Arc::new(Semaphore::new(max_concurrent_requests));
+        let healthy = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));
 
         Self {
             validation,
             queue,
             shared,
             limit_concurrent_requests: semaphore,
+            healthy,
         }
     }
 
+    pub(crate) fn healthy(&self) -> bool {
+        self.healthy.load(Ordering::SeqCst)
+    }
+
+    pub(crate) fn set_healthy(&self, value: bool) {
+        self.healthy.store(value, Ordering::SeqCst)
+    }
+
     /// Add a new request to the queue and return a stream of InferStreamResponse
     #[instrument(skip(self))]
     pub(crate) async fn generate_stream(
diff --git a/router/src/server.rs b/router/src/server.rs
index 97fd43d0..a0bdf42e 100644
--- a/router/src/server.rs
+++ b/router/src/server.rs
@@ -93,53 +93,46 @@ async fn get_model_info(info: Extension<Info>) -> Json<Info> {
             example = json ! ({"error": "unhealthy", "error_type": "healthcheck"})),
     )
 )]
-#[instrument]
+#[instrument(skip(infer))]
 /// Health check method
 async fn health(
     mut health: Extension<Health>,
-) -> Result<Json<()>, (StatusCode, Json<ErrorResponse>)> {
-    health.client.health().await.map_err(|_| {
-        (
-            StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,
-            Json(ErrorResponse {
-                error: "unhealthy".to_string(),
-                error_type: "healthcheck".to_string(),
-            }),
-        )
-    })?;
-    Ok(axum::Json(()))
-}
-
-#[instrument(skip(infer))]
-async fn health_generate(
     infer: Extension<Infer>,
 ) -> Result<Json<()>, (StatusCode, Json<ErrorResponse>)> {
-    // TODO: while this is the best health check we can do, it is a bit on the heavy side and might
-    //       be a bit too slow for a health check.
-    //       What we should do instead is check if the gRPC channels are still healthy.
-
-    // Send a small inference request
-    infer
-        .generate(GenerateRequest {
-            inputs: "liveness".to_string(),
-            parameters: GenerateParameters {
-                best_of: None,
-                temperature: None,
-                repetition_penalty: None,
-                top_k: None,
-                top_p: None,
-                typical_p: None,
-                do_sample: false,
-                max_new_tokens: 1,
-                return_full_text: None,
-                stop: Vec::new(),
-                truncate: None,
-                watermark: false,
-                details: false,
-                seed: None,
-            },
-        })
-        .await?;
+    if infer.healthy() {
+        health.client.health().await.map_err(|_| {
+            (
+                StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,
+                Json(ErrorResponse {
+                    error: "unhealthy".to_string(),
+                    error_type: "healthcheck".to_string(),
+                }),
+            )
+        })?;
+    } else {
+        infer
+            .generate(GenerateRequest {
+                inputs: "liveness".to_string(),
+                parameters: GenerateParameters {
+                    best_of: None,
+                    temperature: None,
+                    repetition_penalty: None,
+                    top_k: None,
+                    top_p: None,
+                    typical_p: None,
+                    do_sample: false,
+                    max_new_tokens: 1,
+                    return_full_text: None,
+                    stop: Vec::new(),
+                    truncate: None,
+                    watermark: false,
+                    details: false,
+                    seed: None,
+                },
+            })
+            .await?;
+        infer.set_healthy(true);
+    }
     Ok(axum::Json(()))
 }
 
@@ -191,10 +184,27 @@ async fn generate(
     // Inference
     let (response, best_of_responses) = match req.0.parameters.best_of {
         Some(best_of) if best_of > 1 => {
-            let (response, best_of_responses) = infer.generate_best_of(req.0, best_of).await?;
+            let (response, best_of_responses) = match infer.generate_best_of(req.0, best_of).await {
+                Ok(result) => result,
+                Err(err) => {
+                    infer.set_healthy(false);
+                    return Err(err)?;
+                }
+            };
             (response, Some(best_of_responses))
         }
-        _ => (infer.generate(req.0).await?, None),
+        _ => (
+            {
+                match infer.generate(req.0).await {
+                    Ok(result) => result,
+                    Err(err) => {
+                        infer.set_healthy(false);
+                        return Err(err)?;
+                    }
+                }
+            },
+            None,
+        ),
     };
 
     // Token details
@@ -473,6 +483,7 @@ async fn generate_stream(
                             // yield error
                             Err(err) => {
                                 error = true;
+                                infer.set_healthy(false);
                                 yield Ok(Event::from(err));
                                 break;
                             }
@@ -682,7 +693,6 @@ pub async fn run(
         .route("/invocations", post(compat_generate))
         // Base Health route
         .route("/health", get(health))
-        .route("/health_generate", get(health_generate))
         // Inference API health route
         .route("/", get(health))
         // AWS Sagemaker health route