diff --git a/collector/container/Dockerfile b/collector/container/Dockerfile
index 3ab2377157..17d789c368 100644
--- a/collector/container/Dockerfile
+++ b/collector/container/Dockerfile
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ COPY LICENSE-kernel-modules.txt /kernel-modules/LICENSE
 COPY container/libs/libsinsp-wrapper.so /usr/local/lib/
 COPY container/bin/collector /usr/local/bin/
 COPY container/bin/self-checks /usr/local/bin/self-checks
+COPY container/status-check.sh /usr/local/bin/status-check.sh
 
 RUN echo '/usr/local/lib' > /etc/ld.so.conf.d/usrlocallib.conf && \
     ldconfig && \
@@ -38,6 +39,14 @@ RUN echo '/usr/local/lib' > /etc/ld.so.conf.d/usrlocallib.conf && \
 
 EXPOSE 8080 9090
 
+HEALTHCHECK	\
+	# health checks within the first 5s are not counted as failure
+	--start-period=5s \
+	# perform health check every 5s
+	--interval=5s \
+	# the command uses /ready API
+	CMD /usr/local/bin/status-check.sh
+
 ENTRYPOINT ["/bootstrap.sh"]
 
 CMD collector-wrapper.sh \
diff --git a/collector/container/status-check.sh b/collector/container/status-check.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..9a8d4fa5be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/collector/container/status-check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# /ready API will return the following formatted response:
+# {
+#    "collector" : {
+#       "drops" : 0,
+#       "events" : 9330070,
+#       "node" : "node.name",
+#       "preemptions" : 0
+#    },
+#    "status" : "ok"
+# }
+#
+# Take the status line, split it by ":" and trim spaces and quotes.
+STATUS=$(curl -s localhost:8080/ready | grep 'status' | awk -F ':' '{print $2}' | tr -d '"' | tr -d ' ')
+
+if [[ "${STATUS}" = "ok" ]]; then
+    exit 0
+else
+    exit 1
+fi
diff --git a/integration-tests/suites/base.go b/integration-tests/suites/base.go
index a0f8272c8a..c68bd9950e 100644
--- a/integration-tests/suites/base.go
+++ b/integration-tests/suites/base.go
@@ -69,9 +69,17 @@ func (s *IntegrationTestSuiteBase) StartCollector(disableGRPC bool, options *com
 
 	s.Require().NoError(s.Collector().Setup(options))
 	s.Require().NoError(s.Collector().Launch())
+	// Wait for collector to report healthy, includes initial setup and probes
+	// loading. It doesn't make sense to wait for very long, limit it to 1 min.
+	_, err := s.waitForContainerToBecomeHealthy(
+		"collector",
+		s.Collector().ContainerID,
+		defaultWaitTickSeconds, 1*time.Minute)
+	s.Require().NoError(err)
 
 	// wait for self-check process to guarantee collector is started
-	s.Sensor().WaitProcessesN(s.Collector().ContainerID, 30*time.Second, 1)
+	selfCheckOk := s.Sensor().WaitProcessesN(s.Collector().ContainerID, 30*time.Second, 1)
+	s.Require().True(selfCheckOk)
 }
 
 // StopCollector will tear down the collector container and stop
@@ -235,17 +243,33 @@ func (s *IntegrationTestSuiteBase) launchContainer(name string, args ...string)
 	return outLines[len(outLines)-1], err
 }
 
-func (s *IntegrationTestSuiteBase) waitForContainerToExit(containerName, containerID string, tickSeconds time.Duration) (bool, error) {
+// Wait for a container to become a certain status.
+//   - tickSeconds -- how often to check for the status
+//   - timeoutThreshold -- the overall time limit for waiting,
+//     defaulting to 30 min if zero
+//   - filter -- description of the desired status
+func (s *IntegrationTestSuiteBase) waitForContainerStatus(
+	containerName string,
+	containerID string,
+	tickSeconds time.Duration,
+	timeoutThreshold time.Duration,
+	filter string) (bool, error) {
+
 	cmd := []string{
 		common.RuntimeCommand, "ps", "-qa",
 		"--filter", "id=" + containerID,
-		"--filter", "status=exited",
+		"--filter", filter,
 	}
 
 	start := time.Now()
 	tick := time.Tick(tickSeconds)
 	tickElapsed := time.Tick(1 * time.Minute)
-	timeout := time.After(30 * time.Minute)
+
+	if timeoutThreshold == 0 {
+		timeoutThreshold = 30 * time.Minute
+	}
+	timeout := time.After(timeoutThreshold)
+
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-tick:
@@ -256,17 +280,41 @@ func (s *IntegrationTestSuiteBase) waitForContainerToExit(containerName, contain
 				return true, nil
 			}
 			if err != nil {
-				fmt.Printf("Retrying waitForContainerToExit(%s, %s): Error: %v\n", containerName, containerID, err)
+				fmt.Printf("Retrying waitForContainerStatus(%s, %s): Error: %v\n",
+					containerName, containerID, err)
 			}
 		case <-timeout:
-			fmt.Printf("Timed out waiting for container %s to exit, elapsed Time: %s\n", containerName, time.Since(start))
-			return false, nil
+			fmt.Printf("Timed out waiting for container %s to become %s, elapsed Time: %s\n",
+				containerName, filter, time.Since(start))
+			return false, fmt.Errorf("Timeout waiting for container %s to become %s after %v",
+				containerName, filter, timeoutThreshold)
 		case <-tickElapsed:
-			fmt.Printf("Waiting for container: %s, elapsed time: %s\n", containerName, time.Since(start))
+			fmt.Printf("Waiting for container %s to become %s, elapsed time: %s\n",
+				containerName, filter, time.Since(start))
 		}
 	}
 }
 
+func (s *IntegrationTestSuiteBase) waitForContainerToBecomeHealthy(
+	containerName string,
+	containerID string,
+	tickSeconds time.Duration,
+	timeoutThreshold time.Duration) (bool, error) {
+
+	return s.waitForContainerStatus(containerName, containerID, tickSeconds,
+		timeoutThreshold, "health=healthy")
+}
+
+func (s *IntegrationTestSuiteBase) waitForContainerToExit(
+	containerName string,
+	containerID string,
+	tickSeconds time.Duration,
+	timeoutThreshold time.Duration) (bool, error) {
+
+	return s.waitForContainerStatus(containerName, containerID, tickSeconds,
+		timeoutThreshold, "status=exited")
+}
+
 func (s *IntegrationTestSuiteBase) execContainer(containerName string, command []string) (string, error) {
 	cmd := []string{common.RuntimeCommand, "exec", containerName}
 	cmd = append(cmd, command...)
@@ -342,7 +390,7 @@ func (s *IntegrationTestSuiteBase) RunCollectorBenchmark() {
 	containerID, err := s.launchContainer(benchmarkName, benchmarkArgs...)
 	s.Require().NoError(err)
 
-	_, err = s.waitForContainerToExit(benchmarkName, containerID, defaultWaitTickSeconds)
+	_, err = s.waitForContainerToExit(benchmarkName, containerID, defaultWaitTickSeconds, 0)
 	s.Require().NoError(err)
 
 	benchmarkLogs, err := s.containerLogs("benchmark")
diff --git a/integration-tests/suites/benchmark.go b/integration-tests/suites/benchmark.go
index 0d079ae5af..d9fbfd8a40 100644
--- a/integration-tests/suites/benchmark.go
+++ b/integration-tests/suites/benchmark.go
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ func (b *BenchmarkTestSuiteBase) RunInitContainer() {
 	containerID, err := b.launchContainer("host-init", cmd...)
 	require.NoError(b.T(), err)
 
-	if finished, _ := b.waitForContainerToExit("host-init", containerID, 5*time.Second); !finished {
+	if finished, _ := b.waitForContainerToExit("host-init", containerID, 5*time.Second, 0); !finished {
 		logs, err := b.containerLogs("host-init")
 		if err == nil {
 			fmt.Println(logs)
diff --git a/integration-tests/suites/image_json.go b/integration-tests/suites/image_json.go
index 014cfec82b..784d86be3c 100644
--- a/integration-tests/suites/image_json.go
+++ b/integration-tests/suites/image_json.go
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ func (s *ImageLabelJSONTestSuite) TestRunImageWithJSONLabel() {
 	containerID, err := s.launchContainer(name, image)
 	s.Require().NoError(err)
 
-	_, err = s.waitForContainerToExit(name, containerID, defaultWaitTickSeconds)
+	_, err = s.waitForContainerToExit(name, containerID, defaultWaitTickSeconds, 0)
 	s.Require().NoError(err)
 }
 
diff --git a/integration-tests/suites/mock_sensor/expect_proc.go b/integration-tests/suites/mock_sensor/expect_proc.go
index cd0511a7a4..709e9b9af6 100644
--- a/integration-tests/suites/mock_sensor/expect_proc.go
+++ b/integration-tests/suites/mock_sensor/expect_proc.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ func (s *MockSensor) ExpectProcessesN(t *testing.T, containerID string, timeout
 }
 
 func (s *MockSensor) WaitProcessesN(containerID string, timeout time.Duration, n int) bool {
-	return len(s.waitProcessesN(func() {}, containerID, timeout, n)) == n
+	return len(s.waitProcessesN(func() {}, containerID, timeout, n)) >= n
 }
 
 func (s *MockSensor) ExpectProcesses(
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ func (s *MockSensor) ExpectLineages(t *testing.T, containerID string, timeout ti
 }
 
 func (s *MockSensor) waitProcessesN(timeoutFn func(), containerID string, timeout time.Duration, n int) []types.ProcessInfo {
-	if len(s.Processes(containerID)) == n {
+	if len(s.Processes(containerID)) >= n {
 		return s.Processes(containerID)
 	}
 
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ loop:
 				continue loop
 			}
 
-			if len(s.Processes(containerID)) == n {
+			if len(s.Processes(containerID)) >= n {
 				return s.Processes(containerID)
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/integration-tests/suites/perf_event_open.go b/integration-tests/suites/perf_event_open.go
index 1e51f13816..957a88d956 100644
--- a/integration-tests/suites/perf_event_open.go
+++ b/integration-tests/suites/perf_event_open.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ func (s *PerfEventOpenTestSuite) TestReadingTracepoints() {
 	containerID, err := s.launchContainer("perf-event-open", "--privileged", image, "", "STDOUT")
 	s.Require().NoError(err)
 
-	if finished, _ := s.waitForContainerToExit("perf-event-open", containerID, 5*time.Second); finished {
+	if finished, _ := s.waitForContainerToExit("perf-event-open", containerID, 5*time.Second, 0); finished {
 		logs, err := s.containerLogs("perf-event-open")
 		if err != nil {
 			fmt.Println(logs)