diff --git a/doc/source/operation.rst b/doc/source/operation.rst
index fec7c9aae..497034c67 100644
--- a/doc/source/operation.rst
+++ b/doc/source/operation.rst
@@ -394,6 +394,12 @@ launchers, all will provide the same information.
    :resheader Content-Type: ``application/json`` or ``text/plain``
                             depending on the :http:header:`Accept` header
 
+.. http:get:: /ready
+
+   Responds with status code 200 as soon as all configured providers are fully
+   started. During startup it returns 500. This can be used as a
+   readiness probe in a kubernetes based deployment.
+
 Monitoring
 ----------
 
diff --git a/nodepool/launcher.py b/nodepool/launcher.py
index a8d84e3ce..6ba7f211d 100644
--- a/nodepool/launcher.py
+++ b/nodepool/launcher.py
@@ -881,6 +881,7 @@ class NodePool(threading.Thread):
         self._delete_thread = None
         self._stats_thread = None
         self._submittedRequests = {}
+        self.ready = False
 
     def stop(self):
         self._stopped = True
@@ -1155,4 +1156,8 @@ class NodePool(threading.Thread):
             except Exception:
                 self.log.exception("Exception in main loop:")
 
+            # At this point all providers are registered and fully functional
+            # so we can mark nodepool as ready.
+            self.ready = True
+
             self._stop_event.wait(self.watermark_sleep)
diff --git a/nodepool/tests/unit/test_webapp.py b/nodepool/tests/unit/test_webapp.py
index 7fd7249c8..797c6bb31 100644
--- a/nodepool/tests/unit/test_webapp.py
+++ b/nodepool/tests/unit/test_webapp.py
@@ -17,9 +17,11 @@ import json
 import logging
 import yaml
 from urllib import request
+from urllib.error import HTTPError
 
 from nodepool import tests
 from nodepool import zk
+from nodepool.nodeutils import iterate_timeout
 
 
 class TestWebApp(tests.DBTestCase):
@@ -248,3 +250,30 @@ class TestWebApp(tests.DBTestCase):
         config = yaml.safe_load(open(configfile))
         self.assertEqual(config['webapp']['port'], 8080)
         self.assertEqual(config['webapp']['listen_address'], '127.0.0.1')
+
+    def test_webapp_ready(self):
+        configfile = self.setup_config('node.yaml')
+        pool = self.useNodepool(configfile, watermark_sleep=1)
+
+        webapp = self.useWebApp(pool, port=0)
+        webapp.start()
+        port = webapp.server.socket.getsockname()[1]
+
+        # Query ready endpoint before the pool has been started. We expect
+        # an error in this case.
+        req = request.Request("http://localhost:%s/ready" % port)
+        with self.assertRaises(HTTPError, request.urlopen, req):
+            pass
+
+        pool.start()
+
+        # Now wait until we get a valid response.
+        for _ in iterate_timeout(30, Exception, 'ready succeeds'):
+            try:
+                f = request.urlopen(req)
+                break
+            except HTTPError:
+                pass
+
+        data = f.read()
+        self.assertEqual(data, b"OK")
diff --git a/nodepool/webapp.py b/nodepool/webapp.py
index 28947115e..49c7a88e7 100644
--- a/nodepool/webapp.py
+++ b/nodepool/webapp.py
@@ -75,6 +75,13 @@ class WebApp(threading.Thread):
         self.server.server_close()
 
     def get_cache(self, path, params, request_type):
+        # At first process ready request as this doesn't need caching.
+        if path == '/ready':
+            if not self.nodepool.ready:
+                raise webob.exc.HTTPServiceUnavailable()
+            else:
+                return time.time(), 'OK'
+
         # TODO quick and dirty way to take query parameters
         # into account when caching data
         if params:
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/ready-endpoint-064e8516190567d6.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/ready-endpoint-064e8516190567d6.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..08a8d6c92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/ready-endpoint-064e8516190567d6.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+features:
+  - |
+    There is a new :http:get:`/ready` endpoint that can be used as a readiness
+    probe.