diff --git a/templates/deployment.yaml b/templates/deployment.yaml
index 0ae2b6b..899d743 100644
--- a/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -155,6 +155,10 @@ spec:
               containerPort: {{ .Values.port }}
             - name: metrics
               containerPort: {{ .Values.openMetricsPort }}
+            {{- if .Values.healthcheckPort }}
+            - name: healthcheck
+              containerPort: {{ .Values.healthcheckPort }}
+            {{- end }}
           {{- if .Values.lifecycle }}
           {{- if .Values.preStopSleepSeconds }}
           {{- fail "lifecycle replaces the preStop that preStopSleepSeconds renders; set one of them" }}
@@ -178,6 +182,14 @@ spec:
           {{- if .Values.readinessProbe }}
           readinessProbe:
             {{- toYaml .Values.readinessProbe | nindent 12 }}
+          {{- else if .Values.healthcheckPort }}
+          readinessProbe:
+            # Pools report healthy until their first connection attempt fails,
+            # which takes up to connect_timeout (5s by default).
+            initialDelaySeconds: 10
+            httpGet:
+              path: /
+              port: healthcheck
           {{- end }}
           {{- if .Values.startupProbe }}
           startupProbe:
diff --git a/test/values-healthcheck-port.yaml b/test/values-healthcheck-port.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..298863f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/values-healthcheck-port.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# Test healthcheck port with its default HTTP readiness probe
+healthcheckPort: 8080
diff --git a/values.yaml b/values.yaml
index 7c15f6a..4502fea 100644
--- a/values.yaml
+++ b/values.yaml
@@ -66,7 +66,9 @@ port: 6432
 # net.core.somaxconn, so raise both settings when increasing this value.
 # Defaults to 1024. This setting cannot be changed at runtime.
 # listenBacklog: 1024
-# healthcheckPort on which PgDog will expose healthcheck endpoint
+# healthcheckPort on which PgDog will expose its HTTP healthcheck endpoint.
+# It returns 502 when every connection pool is down. Unless readinessProbe is
+# set, the chart uses it as the readiness probe.
 # (if not specified, no separate healthcheck port is configured)
 # healthcheckPort: 8080
 # Optional [general] setting; omitted unless explicitly set to true or false.
@@ -109,7 +111,8 @@ replicas: 2
 # Optional: Deployment rollout strategy (Deployment only)
 # strategy: {}
 
-# Optional: container health probes (disabled by default)
+# Optional: container health probes. When readinessProbe is not set and
+# healthcheckPort is, the chart adds an HTTP readiness probe on healthcheckPort.
 # livenessProbe: {}
 # readinessProbe: {}
 # startupProbe: {}