diff --git a/Dockerfile.arm64 b/Dockerfile.arm64
index 602146e6..c1f56f81 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.arm64
+++ b/Dockerfile.arm64
@@ -14,6 +14,6 @@
 FROM arm64v8/alpine:3.7
 LABEL maintainer "Casey Davenport <casey@tigera.io>"
 
-ADD bin/kube-controllers-linux-amd64 /usr/bin/kube-controllers
-ADD bin/check-status-linux-amd64 /usr/bin/check-status
+ADD bin/kube-controllers-linux-arm64 /usr/bin/kube-controllers
+ADD bin/check-status-linux-arm64 /usr/bin/check-status
 ENTRYPOINT ["/usr/bin/kube-controllers"]
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 794dd61f..6bc60074 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ image-all: $(addprefix sub-image-,$(ARCHES))
 sub-image-%:
 	$(MAKE) image ARCH=$*
 
-image.created-$(ARCH): bin/kube-controllers-linux-$(ARCH)
+image.created-$(ARCH): bin/kube-controllers-linux-$(ARCH) bin/check-status-linux-$(ARCH)
 	# Build the docker image for the policy controller.
 	docker build -t $(CONTAINER_NAME):latest-$(ARCH) -f Dockerfile.$(ARCH) .
 ifeq ($(ARCH),amd64)
diff --git a/cmd/check-status/main.go b/cmd/check-status/main.go
index 5eaa284d..0426822a 100644
--- a/cmd/check-status/main.go
+++ b/cmd/check-status/main.go
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ import (
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
-	"time"
 
 	"github.com/projectcalico/kube-controllers/pkg/status"
 )
@@ -49,15 +48,8 @@ func main() {
 	if *checkReady {
 		var st *status.Status
 		var err error
-		// Try reading the status file up to 3 times.
-		for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
-			st, err = status.ReadStatusFile(*file)
-			if err != nil {
-				time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
-				continue
-			}
-			break
-		}
+
+		st, err = status.ReadStatusFile(*file)
 		if err != nil {
 			fmt.Printf("Failed to read status file %s: %v\n", *file, err)
 			os.Exit(1)
diff --git a/cmd/kube-controllers/main.go b/cmd/kube-controllers/main.go
index 13796d87..e0311e93 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-controllers/main.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-controllers/main.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/projectcalico/kube-controllers/pkg/controllers/node"
 	"github.com/projectcalico/kube-controllers/pkg/controllers/pod"
 	"github.com/projectcalico/kube-controllers/pkg/controllers/serviceaccount"
+	"github.com/projectcalico/kube-controllers/pkg/status"
 	"github.com/projectcalico/libcalico-go/lib/apiconfig"
 	client "github.com/projectcalico/libcalico-go/lib/clientv3"
 	"github.com/projectcalico/libcalico-go/lib/logutils"
@@ -95,6 +97,12 @@ func main() {
 	if err != nil {
 		log.WithError(err).Fatal("Failed to initialize Calico datastore")
 	}
+	// Initialize readiness to false if enabled
+	s := status.New(status.DefaultStatusFile)
+	if config.HealthEnabled {
+		s.SetReady("CalicoDatastore", false, "initialized to false")
+		s.SetReady("KubeAPIServer", false, "initialized to false")
+	}
 
 	for _, controllerType := range strings.Split(config.EnabledControllers, ",") {
 		switch controllerType {
@@ -121,8 +129,43 @@ func main() {
 	// If configured to do so, start an etcdv3 compaction.
 	startCompactor(ctx, config)
 
-	// Wait forever.
-	select {}
+	// Wait forever and perform healthchecks.
+	for {
+		// skip healthchecks if configured
+		if !config.HealthEnabled {
+			select {}
+		}
+		// Datastore HealthCheck
+		healthCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 10*time.Second)
+		err = calicoClient.EnsureInitialized(healthCtx, "", "k8s")
+		if err != nil {
+			log.WithError(err).Errorf("Failed to verify datastore")
+			s.SetReady(
+				"CalicoDatastore",
+				false,
+				fmt.Sprintf("Error verifying datastore: %v", err),
+			)
+		} else {
+			s.SetReady("CalicoDatastore", true, "")
+		}
+		cancel()
+
+		// Kube-apiserver HealthCheck
+		healthStatus := 0
+		k8sClientset.Discovery().RESTClient().Get().AbsPath("/healthz").Do().StatusCode(&healthStatus)
+		if healthStatus != http.StatusOK {
+			log.WithError(err).Errorf("Failed to reach apiserver")
+			s.SetReady(
+				"KubeAPIServer",
+				false,
+				fmt.Sprintf("Error reaching apiserver: %v with http status code: %d", err, healthStatus),
+			)
+		} else {
+			s.SetReady("KubeAPIServer", true, "")
+		}
+
+		time.Sleep(10 * time.Second)
+	}
 }
 
 // Starts an etcdv3 compaction goroutine with the given config.
diff --git a/pkg/config/config.go b/pkg/config/config.go
index 61b8cf70..d7273138 100644
--- a/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ type Config struct {
 
 	// Path to a kubeconfig file to use for accessing the k8s API.
 	Kubeconfig string `default:"" split_words:"false"`
+
+	// Enable healthchecks
+	HealthEnabled bool `default:"true"`
 }
 
 // Parse parses envconfig and stores in Config struct
diff --git a/pkg/status/status.go b/pkg/status/status.go
index fcf2c573..9b1af0c0 100644
--- a/pkg/status/status.go
+++ b/pkg/status/status.go
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ func (s *Status) GetNotReadyConditions() string {
 
 // WriteStatus writes out the status in json format.
 func (c *Status) WriteStatus() error {
-	b, err := json.Marshal(*c)
+	b, err := json.Marshal(c)
 	if err != nil {
 		logrus.Errorf("Failed to marshal readiness: %s", err)
 		return err
diff --git a/tests/fv/fv_test.go b/tests/fv/fv_test.go
index b5aaaaa0..36d7d08a 100644
--- a/tests/fv/fv_test.go
+++ b/tests/fv/fv_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net"
 	"os"
+	"os/exec"
 	"time"
 
 	"k8s.io/api/core/v1"
@@ -108,6 +109,60 @@ var _ = Describe("kube-controllers FV tests", func() {
 		Expect(*info.Spec.DatastoreReady).To(BeTrue())
 	})
 
+	Context("Healthcheck FV tests", func() {
+		It("should pass health check", func() {
+			// wait for a health check cycle to pass
+			Eventually(func() []byte {
+				cmd := exec.Command("docker", "exec", policyController.Name, "/usr/bin/check-status", "-r")
+				stdoutStderr, _ := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+
+				return stdoutStderr
+			}, 20*time.Second, 500*time.Millisecond).ShouldNot(ContainSubstring("initialized to false"))
+			Eventually(func() []byte {
+				cmd := exec.Command("docker", "exec", policyController.Name, "/usr/bin/check-status", "-r")
+				stdoutStderr, _ := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+
+				return stdoutStderr
+			}, 20*time.Second, 500*time.Millisecond).ShouldNot(ContainSubstring("Error"))
+		})
+
+		It("should fail health check if apiserver is not running", func() {
+			// wait for a health check cycle to pass
+			Eventually(func() []byte {
+				cmd := exec.Command("docker", "exec", policyController.Name, "/usr/bin/check-status", "-r")
+				stdoutStderr, _ := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+
+				return stdoutStderr
+			}, 20*time.Second, 500*time.Millisecond).ShouldNot(ContainSubstring("initialized to false"))
+
+			apiserver.Stop()
+			Eventually(func() []byte {
+				cmd := exec.Command("docker", "exec", policyController.Name, "/usr/bin/check-status", "-r")
+				stdoutStderr, _ := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+
+				return stdoutStderr
+			}, 20*time.Second, 500*time.Millisecond).Should(ContainSubstring("Error reaching apiserver"))
+		})
+
+		It("should fail health check if etcd not running", func() {
+			// wait for a health check cycle to pass
+			Eventually(func() []byte {
+				cmd := exec.Command("docker", "exec", policyController.Name, "/usr/bin/check-status", "-r")
+				stdoutStderr, _ := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+
+				return stdoutStderr
+			}, 20*time.Second, 500*time.Millisecond).ShouldNot(ContainSubstring("initialized to false"))
+
+			etcd.Stop()
+			Eventually(func() []byte {
+				cmd := exec.Command("docker", "exec", policyController.Name, "/usr/bin/check-status", "-r")
+				stdoutStderr, _ := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+
+				return stdoutStderr
+			}, 20*time.Second, 500*time.Millisecond).Should(ContainSubstring("Error verifying datastore"))
+		})
+	})
+
 	Context("Node FV tests", func() {
 		It("should be removed in response to a k8s node delete [Release]", func() {
 			kn := &v1.Node{