diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 85fdcbe..b896b27 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -27,6 +27,6 @@ USER spooty
 EXPOSE 3000
 
 HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=5s --start-period=30s --retries=3 \
-  CMD curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:3000/api || exit 1
+  CMD curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:3000/api/health || exit 1
 
 CMD ["node", "backend/main.js"]
diff --git a/src/backend/src/app.controller.ts b/src/backend/src/app.controller.ts
index 6ac9162..b25065e 100644
--- a/src/backend/src/app.controller.ts
+++ b/src/backend/src/app.controller.ts
@@ -2,10 +2,13 @@ import { Controller, Get } from '@nestjs/common';
 
 @Controller()
 export class AppController {
-  constructor() {}
-
   @Get()
   getHello(): string {
     return 'ONLINE';
   }
+
+  @Get('health')
+  getHealth(): { status: string } {
+    return { status: 'ok' };
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/backend/src/shared/auth.guard.ts b/src/backend/src/shared/auth.guard.ts
index 09a1ddf..50fd671 100644
--- a/src/backend/src/shared/auth.guard.ts
+++ b/src/backend/src/shared/auth.guard.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@ import type { Request } from 'express';
 @Injectable()
 export class AuthGuard implements CanActivate {
   canActivate(context: ExecutionContext): boolean {
+    const request = context.switchToHttp().getRequest<Request>();
+
+    if (request.path === '/api/health') {
+      return true;
+    }
+
     if (!this.authEnabled()) {
       return true;
     }
@@ -20,7 +26,6 @@ export class AuthGuard implements CanActivate {
       );
     }
 
-    const request = context.switchToHttp().getRequest<Request>();
     const providedToken = this.extractToken(request);
 
     if (providedToken !== expectedToken) {