diff --git a/engines/python/src/main/java/ai/djl/python/engine/PyPredictor.java b/engines/python/src/main/java/ai/djl/python/engine/PyPredictor.java
index bc597c640..213cd68df 100644
--- a/engines/python/src/main/java/ai/djl/python/engine/PyPredictor.java
+++ b/engines/python/src/main/java/ai/djl/python/engine/PyPredictor.java
@@ -64,13 +64,13 @@ public PyPredictor(
     @Override
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
     public List<O> batchPredict(List<I> inputs) throws TranslateException {
+        if (process.isModelUnrecoverable()) {
+            throw new EngineException("Backend Python process is unrecoverable.");
+        }
         if (!process.isReady()) {
             // TODO: wait for restart
             throw new TranslateException("Backend Python process is stopped.");
         }
-        if (process.isModelUnrecoverable()) {
-            throw new EngineException("Backend Python process is unrecoverable.");
-        }
         Object first = inputs.get(0);
         if (first instanceof Input) {
             int size = inputs.size();
diff --git a/serving/src/main/java/ai/djl/serving/models/ModelManager.java b/serving/src/main/java/ai/djl/serving/models/ModelManager.java
index 482bb10b2..515cb22bc 100644
--- a/serving/src/main/java/ai/djl/serving/models/ModelManager.java
+++ b/serving/src/main/java/ai/djl/serving/models/ModelManager.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 import ai.djl.serving.wlm.WorkerPool;
 import ai.djl.serving.wlm.WorkerPoolConfig;
 import ai.djl.serving.workflow.Workflow;
+import ai.djl.util.Utils;
 
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -416,6 +417,17 @@ public CompletableFuture<Map<String, Object>> workerStatus() {
                                         if (wlm.getWorkerPool(wpc).isFullyScaled()) {
                                             data.put(modelName, new StatusResponse("Healthy"));
                                         } else {
+                                            boolean sageMakerHealthCheckOverride =
+                                                    Boolean.parseBoolean(
+                                                            Utils.getEnvOrSystemProperty(
+                                                                    "SAGEMAKER_HEALTH_CHECK_OVERRIDE"));
+                                            if (sageMakerHealthCheckOverride) {
+                                                logger.info(
+                                                        "SAGEMAKER_HEALTH_CHECK_OVERRIDE is"
+                                                                + " enabled. Failing ping as"
+                                                                + " requested");
+                                                hasFailure = true;
+                                            }
                                             data.put(modelName, new StatusResponse("Unhealthy"));
                                         }
                                         break;
diff --git a/wlm/src/main/java/ai/djl/serving/wlm/ModelInfo.java b/wlm/src/main/java/ai/djl/serving/wlm/ModelInfo.java
index 3981de701..b2685ebe6 100644
--- a/wlm/src/main/java/ai/djl/serving/wlm/ModelInfo.java
+++ b/wlm/src/main/java/ai/djl/serving/wlm/ModelInfo.java
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ public Status getStatus() {
                             Boolean.parseBoolean(
                                     Utils.getEnvOrSystemProperty("SERVING_HEALTH_CHECK_OVERRIDE"));
                     if (isHealthCheckOverrideEnabled) {
-                        logger.error(
+                        logger.info(
                                 "SERVING_HEALTH_CHECK_OVERRIDE is enabled. At least 1 model worker"
                                     + " has exhausted all retries. Not marking model as failed");
                         return Status.READY;