diff --git a/api/catalog/api/views/health_views.py b/api/catalog/api/views/health_views.py
index 84448f264..b744094a5 100644
--- a/api/catalog/api/views/health_views.py
+++ b/api/catalog/api/views/health_views.py
@@ -1,10 +1,19 @@
+from django.conf import settings
+from rest_framework import status
+from rest_framework.exceptions import APIException
+from rest_framework.request import Request
 from rest_framework.response import Response
 from rest_framework.views import APIView
 
 
+class ElasticsearchHealthcheckException(APIException):
+    status_code = status.HTTP_503_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE
+
+
 class HealthCheck(APIView):
     """
-    Returns a "200 OK" response if the server is running normally.
+    Returns a "200 OK" response if the server is running normally. Returns 503
+    otherwise.
 
     This endpoint is used in production to ensure that the server should receive
     traffic. If no response is provided, the server is deregistered from the
@@ -13,5 +22,20 @@ class HealthCheck(APIView):
 
     swagger_schema = None
 
-    def get(self, request, format=None):
+    def _check_es(self) -> Response | None:
+        """
+        Checks Elasticsearch cluster health. Raises an exception if ES is not healthy.
+        """
+        es_health = settings.ES.cluster.health(timeout="5s")
+
+        if es_health["timed_out"]:
+            raise ElasticsearchHealthcheckException("es_timed_out")
+
+        if (status := es_health["status"]) != "green":
+            raise ElasticsearchHealthcheckException(f"es_status_{status}")
+
+    def get(self, request: Request):
+        if "check_es" in request.query_params:
+            self._check_es()
+
         return Response({"status": "200 OK"}, status=200)
diff --git a/api/test/unit/conftest.py b/api/test/unit/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fbadf3d12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/test/unit/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+from rest_framework.test import APIClient
+
+import pytest
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def api_client():
+    return APIClient()
diff --git a/api/test/unit/views/health_views_test.py b/api/test/unit/views/health_views_test.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2ddf3b3d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/test/unit/views/health_views_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+import pook
+import pytest
+
+
+def mock_health_response(status="green", timed_out=False):
+    return (
+        pook.get(pook.regex(r"_cluster\/health"))
+        .times(1)
+        .reply(200)
+        .json(
+            {
+                "status": status if not timed_out else None,
+                "timed_out": timed_out,
+            }
+        )
+    )
+
+
+def test_health_check_plain(api_client):
+    res = api_client.get("/healthcheck/")
+    assert res.status_code == 200
+
+
+def test_health_check_es_timed_out(api_client):
+    mock_health_response(timed_out=True)
+    pook.on()
+    res = api_client.get("/healthcheck/", data={"check_es": True})
+    pook.off()
+
+    assert res.status_code == 503
+    assert res.json()["detail"] == "es_timed_out"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("status", ("yellow", "red"))
+def test_health_check_es_status_bad(status, api_client):
+    mock_health_response(status=status)
+    pook.on()
+    res = api_client.get("/healthcheck/", data={"check_es": True})
+    pook.off()
+
+    assert res.status_code == 503
+    assert res.json()["detail"] == f"es_status_{status}"
+
+
+def test_health_check_es_all_good(api_client):
+    mock_health_response(status="green")
+    pook.on()
+    res = api_client.get("/healthcheck/", data={"check_es": True})
+    pook.off()
+
+    assert res.status_code == 200
diff --git a/api/test/unit/views/image_views_test.py b/api/test/unit/views/image_views_test.py
index a74339dbb..a9580f01c 100644
--- a/api/test/unit/views/image_views_test.py
+++ b/api/test/unit/views/image_views_test.py
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from test.factory.models.image import ImageFactory
 
-from rest_framework.test import APIClient
-
 import pytest
 from requests import Request, Response
 
@@ -17,11 +15,6 @@
 _MOCK_IMAGE_INFO = json.loads((_MOCK_IMAGE_PATH / "sample-image-info.json").read_text())
 
 
-@pytest.fixture
-def api_client():
-    return APIClient()
-
-
 @dataclass
 class RequestsFixture:
     requests: list[Request]
diff --git a/api/test/unit/views/media_views_test.py b/api/test/unit/views/media_views_test.py
index 5ca567b7d..c297fda40 100644
--- a/api/test/unit/views/media_views_test.py
+++ b/api/test/unit/views/media_views_test.py
@@ -7,8 +7,6 @@
 from unittest import mock
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 
-from rest_framework.test import APIClient
-
 import pytest
 import pytest_django.asserts
 import requests as requests_lib
@@ -23,11 +21,6 @@
 _MOCK_IMAGE_INFO = json.loads((_MOCK_IMAGE_PATH / "sample-image-info.json").read_text())
 
 
-@pytest.fixture
-def api_client():
-    return APIClient()
-
-
 @dataclass
 class SentRequest:
     request: PreparedRequest