diff --git a/cmd/registry/main.go b/cmd/registry/main.go
index 9196d316..2832c0d7 100644
--- a/cmd/registry/main.go
+++ b/cmd/registry/main.go
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/bugsnag/bugsnag-go"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/configuration"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/context"
-	_ "github.com/docker/distribution/health"
+	"github.com/docker/distribution/health"
 	_ "github.com/docker/distribution/registry/auth/htpasswd"
 	_ "github.com/docker/distribution/registry/auth/silly"
 	_ "github.com/docker/distribution/registry/auth/token"
@@ -70,8 +70,10 @@ func main() {
 	uuid.Loggerf = context.GetLogger(ctx).Warnf
 
 	app := handlers.NewApp(ctx, *config)
+	app.RegisterHealthChecks()
 	handler := configureReporting(app)
 	handler = panicHandler(handler)
+	handler = health.Handler(handler)
 	handler = gorhandlers.CombinedLoggingHandler(os.Stdout, handler)
 
 	if config.HTTP.Debug.Addr != "" {
diff --git a/health/health.go b/health/health.go
index 8a4df776..b1b8c2c6 100644
--- a/health/health.go
+++ b/health/health.go
@@ -2,9 +2,12 @@ package health
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/docker/distribution/context"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -140,7 +143,7 @@ func PeriodicThresholdChecker(check Checker, period time.Duration, threshold int
 }
 
 // CheckStatus returns a map with all the current health check errors
-func CheckStatus() map[string]string {
+func CheckStatus() map[string]string { // TODO(stevvooe) this needs a proper type
 	mutex.RLock()
 	defer mutex.RUnlock()
 	statusKeys := make(map[string]string)
@@ -174,13 +177,13 @@ func RegisterFunc(name string, check func() error) {
 
 // RegisterPeriodicFunc allows the convenience of registering a PeriodicChecker
 // from an arbitrary func() error
-func RegisterPeriodicFunc(name string, check func() error, period time.Duration) {
+func RegisterPeriodicFunc(name string, period time.Duration, check CheckFunc) {
 	Register(name, PeriodicChecker(CheckFunc(check), period))
 }
 
 // RegisterPeriodicThresholdFunc allows the convenience of registering a
 // PeriodicChecker from an arbitrary func() error
-func RegisterPeriodicThresholdFunc(name string, check func() error, period time.Duration, threshold int) {
+func RegisterPeriodicThresholdFunc(name string, period time.Duration, threshold int, check CheckFunc) {
 	Register(name, PeriodicThresholdChecker(CheckFunc(check), period, threshold))
 }
 
@@ -189,25 +192,60 @@ func RegisterPeriodicThresholdFunc(name string, check func() error, period time.
 // Returns 503 if any Error status exists, 200 otherwise
 func StatusHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	if r.Method == "GET" {
-		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json; charset=utf-8")
-		checksStatus := CheckStatus()
-		// If there is an error, return 503
-		if len(checksStatus) != 0 {
-			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusServiceUnavailable)
-		}
-		encoder := json.NewEncoder(w)
-		err := encoder.Encode(checksStatus)
+		checks := CheckStatus()
+		status := http.StatusOK
 
-		// Parsing of the JSON failed. Returning generic error message
-		if err != nil {
-			encoder.Encode(struct {
-				ServerError string `json:"server_error"`
-			}{
-				ServerError: "Could not parse error message",
-			})
+		// If there is an error, return 503
+		if len(checks) != 0 {
+			status = http.StatusServiceUnavailable
 		}
+
+		statusResponse(w, r, status, checks)
 	} else {
-		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
+		http.NotFound(w, r)
+	}
+}
+
+// Handler returns a handler that will return 503 response code if the health
+// checks have failed. If everything is okay with the health checks, the
+// handler will pass through to the provided handler. Use this handler to
+// disable a web application when the health checks fail.
+func Handler(handler http.Handler) http.Handler {
+	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		checks := CheckStatus()
+		if len(checks) != 0 {
+			statusResponse(w, r, http.StatusServiceUnavailable, checks)
+			return
+		}
+
+		handler.ServeHTTP(w, r) // pass through
+	})
+}
+
+// statusResponse completes the request with a response describing the health
+// of the service.
+func statusResponse(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, status int, checks map[string]string) {
+	p, err := json.Marshal(checks)
+	if err != nil {
+		context.GetLogger(context.Background()).Errorf("error serializing health status: %v", err)
+		p, err = json.Marshal(struct {
+			ServerError string `json:"server_error"`
+		}{
+			ServerError: "Could not parse error message",
+		})
+		status = http.StatusInternalServerError
+
+		if err != nil {
+			context.GetLogger(context.Background()).Errorf("error serializing health status failure message: %v", err)
+			return
+		}
+	}
+
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json; charset=utf-8")
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Length", fmt.Sprint(len(p)))
+	w.WriteHeader(status)
+	if _, err := w.Write(p); err != nil {
+		context.GetLogger(context.Background()).Errorf("error writing health status response body: %v", err)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/health/health_test.go b/health/health_test.go
index 7989f0b2..3228cb80 100644
--- a/health/health_test.go
+++ b/health/health_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package health
 
 import (
 	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"testing"
@@ -45,3 +46,62 @@ func TestReturns503IfThereAreErrorChecks(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("Did not get a 503.")
 	}
 }
+
+// TestHealthHandler ensures that our handler implementation correct protects
+// the web application when things aren't so healthy.
+func TestHealthHandler(t *testing.T) {
+	// clear out existing checks.
+	registeredChecks = make(map[string]Checker)
+
+	// protect an http server
+	handler := http.Handler(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNoContent)
+	}))
+
+	// wrap it in our health handler
+	handler = Handler(handler)
+
+	// use this swap check status
+	updater := NewStatusUpdater()
+	Register("test_check", updater)
+
+	// now, create a test server
+	server := httptest.NewServer(handler)
+
+	checkUp := func(t *testing.T, message string) {
+		resp, err := http.Get(server.URL)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("error getting success status: %v", err)
+		}
+		defer resp.Body.Close()
+
+		if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusNoContent {
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected response code from server when %s: %d != %d", message, resp.StatusCode, http.StatusNoContent)
+		}
+		// NOTE(stevvooe): we really don't care about the body -- the format is
+		// not standardized or supported, yet.
+	}
+
+	checkDown := func(t *testing.T, message string) {
+		resp, err := http.Get(server.URL)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("error getting down status: %v", err)
+		}
+		defer resp.Body.Close()
+
+		if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusServiceUnavailable {
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected response code from server when %s: %d != %d", message, resp.StatusCode, http.StatusServiceUnavailable)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// server should be up
+	checkUp(t, "initial health check")
+
+	// now, we fail the health check
+	updater.Update(fmt.Errorf("the server is now out of commission"))
+	checkDown(t, "server should be down") // should be down
+
+	// bring server back up
+	updater.Update(nil)
+	checkUp(t, "when server is back up") // now we should be back up.
+}
diff --git a/registry/handlers/app.go b/registry/handlers/app.go
index f60290d0..ab33e8a6 100644
--- a/registry/handlers/app.go
+++ b/registry/handlers/app.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/docker/distribution"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/configuration"
 	ctxu "github.com/docker/distribution/context"
+	"github.com/docker/distribution/health"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/notifications"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/registry/api/errcode"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/registry/api/v2"
@@ -203,6 +204,20 @@ func NewApp(ctx context.Context, configuration configuration.Configuration) *App
 	return app
 }
 
+// RegisterHealthChecks is an awful hack to defer health check registration
+// control to callers. This should only ever be called once per registry
+// process, typically in a main function. The correct way would be register
+// health checks outside of app, since multiple apps may exist in the same
+// process. Because the configuration and app are tightly coupled,
+// implementing this properly will require a refactor. This method may panic
+// if called twice in the same process.
+func (app *App) RegisterHealthChecks() {
+	health.RegisterPeriodicThresholdFunc("storagedriver_"+app.Config.Storage.Type(), 10*time.Second, 3, func() error {
+		_, err := app.driver.List(app, "/") // "/" should always exist
+		return err                          // any error will be treated as failure
+	})
+}
+
 // register a handler with the application, by route name. The handler will be
 // passed through the application filters and context will be constructed at
 // request time.