diff --git a/pkg/gameservers/controller.go b/pkg/gameservers/controller.go
index 3ca1c11671..0b1b7b9631 100644
--- a/pkg/gameservers/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/gameservers/controller.go
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ func NewController(
 	c.recorder = eventBroadcaster.NewRecorder(scheme.Scheme, corev1.EventSource{Component: "gameserver-controller"})
 
 	c.workerqueue = workerqueue.NewWorkerQueue(c.syncGameServer, c.logger, stable.GroupName+".GameServerController")
+	health.AddLivenessCheck("game-server-worker-queue", healthcheck.Check(c.workerqueue.Healthy))
 
 	wh.AddHandler("/mutate", stablev1alpha1.Kind("GameServer"), admv1beta1.Create, c.creationMutationHandler)
 	wh.AddHandler("/validate", stablev1alpha1.Kind("GameServer"), admv1beta1.Create, c.creationValidationHandler)
diff --git a/pkg/gameservers/controller_test.go b/pkg/gameservers/controller_test.go
index a65476e6d4..517e07c725 100644
--- a/pkg/gameservers/controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/gameservers/controller_test.go
@@ -199,7 +199,6 @@ func TestControllerHealthCheck(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	stop, cancel := startInformers(m, c.gameServerSynced)
-	defer cancel()
 
 	go http.ListenAndServe("localhost:9090", health)
 
@@ -209,6 +208,10 @@ func TestControllerHealthCheck(t *testing.T) {
 	}()
 
 	testHTTPHealth(t, "http://localhost:9090/live", "{}\n", http.StatusOK)
+
+	cancel()
+
+	testHTTPHealth(t, "http://localhost:9090/live", "{}\n", http.StatusServiceUnavailable)
 }
 
 func TestControllerCreationMutationHandler(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/util/workerqueue/workerqueue.go b/pkg/util/workerqueue/workerqueue.go
index 626903d715..33f242fff5 100644
--- a/pkg/util/workerqueue/workerqueue.go
+++ b/pkg/util/workerqueue/workerqueue.go
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 package workerqueue
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"agones.dev/agones/pkg/util/runtime"
@@ -28,6 +30,10 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/client-go/util/workqueue"
 )
 
+const (
+	workFx = time.Second
+)
+
 // Handler is the handler for processing the work queue
 // This is usually a syncronisation handler for a controller or related
 type Handler func(string) error
@@ -40,6 +46,10 @@ type WorkerQueue struct {
 	queue  workqueue.RateLimitingInterface
 	// SyncHandler is exported to make testing easier (hack)
 	SyncHandler Handler
+
+	mu      sync.Mutex
+	workers int
+	running int
 }
 
 // NewWorkerQueue returns a new worker queue for a given name
@@ -106,15 +116,59 @@ func (wq *WorkerQueue) processNextWorkItem() bool {
 }
 
 // Run the WorkerQueue processing via the Handler. Will block until stop is closed.
-// Runs threadiness number workers to process the rate limited queue
-func (wq *WorkerQueue) Run(threadiness int, stop <-chan struct{}) {
-	defer wq.queue.ShutDown()
-
-	wq.logger.WithField("threadiness", threadiness).Info("Starting workers...")
-	for i := 0; i < threadiness; i++ {
-		go wait.Until(wq.runWorker, time.Second, stop)
+// Runs a certain number workers to process the rate limited queue
+func (wq *WorkerQueue) Run(workers int, stop <-chan struct{}) {
+	wq.setWorkerCount(workers)
+	wq.logger.WithField("workers", workers).Info("Starting workers...")
+	for i := 0; i < workers; i++ {
+		go wq.run(stop)
 	}
 
 	<-stop
 	wq.logger.Info("...shutting down workers")
+	wq.queue.ShutDown()
+}
+
+func (wq *WorkerQueue) run(stop <-chan struct{}) {
+	wq.inc()
+	defer wq.dec()
+	wait.Until(wq.runWorker, workFx, stop)
+}
+
+// Healthy reports whether all the worker goroutines are running.
+func (wq *WorkerQueue) Healthy() error {
+	wq.mu.Lock()
+	defer wq.mu.Unlock()
+	want := wq.workers
+	got := wq.running
+
+	if want != got {
+		return fmt.Errorf("want %d worker goroutine(s), got %d", want, got)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// RunCount reports the number of running worker goroutines started by Run.
+func (wq *WorkerQueue) RunCount() int {
+	wq.mu.Lock()
+	defer wq.mu.Unlock()
+	return wq.running
+}
+
+func (wq *WorkerQueue) setWorkerCount(n int) {
+	wq.mu.Lock()
+	defer wq.mu.Unlock()
+	wq.workers = n
+}
+
+func (wq *WorkerQueue) inc() {
+	wq.mu.Lock()
+	defer wq.mu.Unlock()
+	wq.running++
+}
+
+func (wq *WorkerQueue) dec() {
+	wq.mu.Lock()
+	defer wq.mu.Unlock()
+	wq.running--
 }
diff --git a/pkg/util/workerqueue/workerqueue_test.go b/pkg/util/workerqueue/workerqueue_test.go
index 9792b38774..ca48d51bd6 100644
--- a/pkg/util/workerqueue/workerqueue_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/workerqueue/workerqueue_test.go
@@ -54,3 +54,30 @@ func TestWorkerQueueRun(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Fail(t, "should have received value")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestWorkerQueueHealthy(t *testing.T) {
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	handler := func(string) error {
+		<-done
+		return nil
+	}
+	wq := NewWorkerQueue(handler, logrus.WithField("source", "test"), "test")
+	wq.Enqueue(cache.ExplicitKey("default/test"))
+
+	stop := make(chan struct{})
+	go wq.Run(1, stop)
+
+	// Yield to the scheduler to ensure the worker queue goroutine can run.
+	time.Sleep(10 * time.Millisecond)
+	assert.Equal(t, 1, wq.RunCount())
+	assert.Nil(t, wq.Healthy())
+
+	close(done) // Ensure the handler no longer blocks.
+	close(stop) // Stop the worker queue.
+
+	// Yield to the scheduler again to ensure the worker queue goroutine can
+	// finish.
+	time.Sleep(10 * time.Millisecond)
+	assert.Equal(t, 0, wq.RunCount())
+	assert.EqualError(t, wq.Healthy(), "want 1 worker goroutine(s), got 0")
+}