diff --git a/config.py b/config.py
index 957c03c93..4f6181351 100644
--- a/config.py
+++ b/config.py
@@ -77,6 +77,11 @@ class DefaultConfig(object):
 
   DB_TRANSACTION_FACTORY = create_transaction
 
+  # If set to true, TLS is used, but is terminated by an external service (such as a load balancer).
+  # Note that PREFERRED_URL_SCHEME must be `https` when this flag is set or it can lead to undefined
+  # behavior.
+  EXTERNAL_TLS_TERMINATION = False
+
   # If true, CDN URLs will be used for our external dependencies, rather than the local
   # copies.
   USE_CDN = True
diff --git a/health/services.py b/health/services.py
index a56422ad7..66a8b4033 100644
--- a/health/services.py
+++ b/health/services.py
@@ -16,7 +16,11 @@ def _check_registry_gunicorn(app):
   if len(hostname_parts) == 2:
     port = ':' + hostname_parts[1]
 
-  registry_url = '%s://localhost%s/v1/_internal_ping' % (app.config['PREFERRED_URL_SCHEME'], port)
+  scheme = app.config['PREFERRED_URL_SCHEME']
+  if app.config.get('EXTERNAL_TLS_TERMINATION', False):
+    scheme = 'http'
+
+  registry_url = '%s://localhost%s/v1/_internal_ping' % (scheme, port)
   try:
     return client.get(registry_url, verify=False, timeout=2).status_code == 200
   except Exception: