diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 32b4971..0cf09d0 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -136,11 +136,7 @@ func Setup() (*fiber.App, *webhooks.Debouncer, func(), *gorm.DB) {
 	// Automatically recover panics in handlers
 	app.Use(recover.New())
 
-	app.Use(healthcheck.New(healthcheck.Config{
-		ReadinessProbe: func(c *fiber.Ctx) bool {
-			return gormDB.Exec("SELECT 1").Error == nil
-		},
-	}))
+	app.Use(newHealthcheck(gormDB))
 
 	// Use Fiber Rate API Limiter
 	if !common.EnvironmentConfig.IsTest() && common.EnvironmentConfig.MaxRequests != 0 {
@@ -172,6 +168,14 @@ func Setup() (*fiber.App, *webhooks.Debouncer, func(), *gorm.DB) {
 	return app, debouncer, stopEventPurge, gormDB
 }
 
+func newHealthcheck(gormDB *gorm.DB) fiber.Handler {
+	return healthcheck.New(healthcheck.Config{
+		ReadinessProbe: func(c *fiber.Ctx) bool {
+			return gormDB.Exec("SELECT 1").Error == nil
+		},
+	})
+}
+
 // requiresAuth reports whether a request must carry a valid token. Reads
 // are public except for webhook configuration and the audit trail, whose
 // GET operations are marked as authenticated in the OpenAPI contract.
diff --git a/status_test.go b/status_test.go
index 2e35575..29b73af 100644
--- a/status_test.go
+++ b/status_test.go
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"io"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/gofiber/fiber/v2"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"gorm.io/driver/sqlite"
+	"gorm.io/gorm"
 )
 
 func TestHealthEndpoints(t *testing.T) {
@@ -44,3 +48,52 @@ func TestStatusCacheHeaders(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, 204, res.StatusCode)
 	assert.Equal(t, "no-cache", res.Header.Get("Cache-Control"))
 }
+
+func TestHealthEndpointsWhenDatabaseUnavailable(t *testing.T) {
+	unavailableDB, err := gorm.Open(sqlite.Open("file:"+t.Name()+"?mode=memory&cache=shared"), &gorm.Config{})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	pool, err := unavailableDB.DB()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NoError(t, pool.Close())
+
+	healthApp := fiber.New()
+	healthApp.Use(newHealthcheck(unavailableDB))
+	t.Cleanup(func() { require.NoError(t, healthApp.Shutdown()) })
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		path                string
+		expectedCode        int
+		expectedBody        string
+		expectedContentType string
+	}{
+		{
+			path:                "/livez",
+			expectedCode:        200,
+			expectedBody:        "OK",
+			expectedContentType: "text/plain; charset=utf-8",
+		},
+		{
+			path:                "/readyz",
+			expectedCode:        503,
+			expectedBody:        "Service Unavailable",
+			expectedContentType: "text/plain; charset=utf-8",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(test.path, func(t *testing.T) {
+			req, err := newTestRequest("GET", test.path, nil)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			res, err := healthApp.Test(req, -1)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			assert.Equal(t, test.expectedCode, res.StatusCode)
+			body, err := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			assert.Equal(t, test.expectedBody, string(body))
+			assert.Equal(t, test.expectedContentType, res.Header.Get("Content-Type"))
+		})
+	}
+}