diff --git a/core/src/libraries/helpers/healthcheck.rs b/core/src/libraries/helpers/healthcheck.rs
index 6544f1d7..74f60571 100644
--- a/core/src/libraries/helpers/healthcheck.rs
+++ b/core/src/libraries/helpers/healthcheck.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 use hyper::{body, Client, Uri};
 use log::{debug, trace};
+use redis::{aio::ConnectionLike, AsyncCommands, RedisResult};
 use std::time::Duration;
 use tokio::time::sleep;
 use tokio::time::timeout;
@@ -51,3 +52,36 @@ pub async fn wait_for(url: &str, timeout_duration: Duration) -> Result<String, (
         remaining_duration -= check_interval;
     }
 }
+
+pub async fn wait_for_key<C: ConnectionLike + AsyncCommands>(
+    key: &str,
+    timeout_duration: Duration,
+    con: &mut C,
+) -> Result<(), ()> {
+    let check_interval = Duration::from_millis(250);
+    let mut remaining_duration = timeout_duration;
+
+    debug!("Awaiting existence of redis key {}", key);
+
+    loop {
+        let result: RedisResult<bool> = con.exists(key).await;
+
+        if let Ok(exists) = result {
+            if exists {
+                return Ok(());
+            } else {
+                trace!("Expected redis key does not exist yet");
+            }
+        } else {
+            trace!("Unable to check existence of redis key! {:?}", result);
+        }
+
+        if remaining_duration.as_secs() == 0 {
+            debug!("Timeout while waiting for redis key {}", key);
+            return Err(());
+        }
+
+        sleep(check_interval).await;
+        remaining_duration -= check_interval;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/core/src/libraries/helpers/mod.rs b/core/src/libraries/helpers/mod.rs
index c88e85f2..5a42e88b 100644
--- a/core/src/libraries/helpers/mod.rs
+++ b/core/src/libraries/helpers/mod.rs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ pub mod lua;
 
 pub use backoff::Backoff;
 pub use capabilities::*;
-pub use healthcheck::wait_for;
+pub use healthcheck::{wait_for, wait_for_key};
 pub use timeout::Timeout;
 
 /// Splits the input string into two parts at the first occurence of the separator
diff --git a/core/src/services/manager/tasks/create_session.rs b/core/src/services/manager/tasks/create_session.rs
index 63eb9fb4..21cdcb0b 100644
--- a/core/src/services/manager/tasks/create_session.rs
+++ b/core/src/services/manager/tasks/create_session.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use super::super::{context::SessionCreationContext, RequestError, SessionReplyValue};
 use crate::libraries::helpers::{
-    keys, parse_browser_string, wait_for, CapabilitiesRequest, Timeout,
+    keys, parse_browser_string, wait_for, wait_for_key, CapabilitiesRequest, Timeout,
 };
 use crate::libraries::lifecycle::logging::{LogCode, SessionLogger};
 use crate::libraries::metrics::MetricsEntry;
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ mod subtasks {
     pub async fn await_healthcheck<C: ConnectionLike + AsyncCommands>(
         con: &mut C,
         session_id: &str,
-    ) -> Result<String, RequestError> {
+    ) -> Result<(), RequestError> {
         let (host, port): (String, String) = con
             .hget(keys::session::upstream(session_id), &["host", "port"])
             .map_err(RequestError::RedisError)
@@ -264,10 +264,27 @@ mod subtasks {
 
         let url = format!("http://{}:{}/status", host, port);
         let timeout = Timeout::NodeStartup.get(con).await as u64;
-
-        wait_for(&url, Duration::from_secs(timeout))
+        let timeout_duration = Duration::from_secs(timeout);
+        let healthcheck_start = Instant::now();
+
+        // Wait for the node heartbeat in redis first to save some HTTP calls
+        wait_for_key(
+            &keys::session::heartbeat::node(session_id),
+            timeout_duration,
+            con,
+        )
+        .map_err(|_| RequestError::HealthCheckTimeout)
+        .await?;
+
+        // Spend the remaining timeout duration HTTP polling the webdrivers status endpoint
+        let remaining_duration =
+            timeout_duration - Instant::now().duration_since(healthcheck_start);
+
+        wait_for(&url, remaining_duration)
             .map_err(|_| RequestError::HealthCheckTimeout)
-            .await
+            .await?;
+
+        Ok(())
     }
 
     mod helpers {