diff --git a/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/policy.go b/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/policy.go
index 0694dbf0bfc..cfbbb2b3835 100644
--- a/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/policy.go
+++ b/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/policy.go
@@ -94,10 +94,10 @@ func ClusterRoles() []rbac.ClusterRole {
 			},
 		},
 		{
-			// a role which provides just enough power to discovery API versions for negotiation
+			// a role which provides just enough power to determine if the server is ready and discover API versions for negotiation
 			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{Name: "system:discovery"},
 			Rules: []rbac.PolicyRule{
-				rbac.NewRule("get").URLs("/version", "/swaggerapi", "/swaggerapi/*", "/api", "/api/*", "/apis", "/apis/*").RuleOrDie(),
+				rbac.NewRule("get").URLs("/healthz", "/version", "/swaggerapi", "/swaggerapi/*", "/api", "/api/*", "/apis", "/apis/*").RuleOrDie(),
 			},
 		},
 		{
diff --git a/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/cluster-roles.yaml b/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/cluster-roles.yaml
index ca2d48125ba..0faf55cc6d7 100644
--- a/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/cluster-roles.yaml
+++ b/plugin/pkg/auth/authorizer/rbac/bootstrappolicy/testdata/cluster-roles.yaml
@@ -369,6 +369,7 @@ items:
     - /api/*
     - /apis
     - /apis/*
+    - /healthz
     - /swaggerapi
     - /swaggerapi/*
     - /version
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/healthz/healthz.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/healthz/healthz.go
index a1e339fa4e4..441500dcb5b 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/healthz/healthz.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/healthz/healthz.go
@@ -96,9 +96,10 @@ func handleRootHealthz(checks ...HealthzChecker) http.HandlerFunc {
 		failed := false
 		var verboseOut bytes.Buffer
 		for _, check := range checks {
-			err := check.Check(r)
-			if err != nil {
-				fmt.Fprintf(&verboseOut, "[-]%v failed: %v\n", check.Name(), err)
+			if check.Check(r) != nil {
+				// don't include the error since this endpoint is public.  If someone wants more detail
+				// they should have explicit permission to the detailed checks.
+				fmt.Fprintf(&verboseOut, "[-]%v failed: reason withheld\n", check.Name())
 				failed = true
 			} else {
 				fmt.Fprintf(&verboseOut, "[+]%v ok\n", check.Name())
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/healthz/healthz_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/healthz/healthz_test.go
index 3cd9767b4d4..b32c072d2d0 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/healthz/healthz_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/healthz/healthz_test.go
@@ -51,10 +51,10 @@ func TestMulitipleChecks(t *testing.T) {
 		{"/healthz?verbose", "[+]ping ok\nhealthz check passed\n", http.StatusOK, false},
 		{"/healthz/ping", "ok", http.StatusOK, false},
 		{"/healthz", "ok", http.StatusOK, false},
-		{"/healthz?verbose", "[+]ping ok\n[-]bad failed: this will fail\nhealthz check failed\n", http.StatusInternalServerError, true},
+		{"/healthz?verbose", "[+]ping ok\n[-]bad failed: reason withheld\nhealthz check failed\n", http.StatusInternalServerError, true},
 		{"/healthz/ping", "ok", http.StatusOK, true},
 		{"/healthz/bad", "internal server error: this will fail\n", http.StatusInternalServerError, true},
-		{"/healthz", "[+]ping ok\n[-]bad failed: this will fail\nhealthz check failed\n", http.StatusInternalServerError, true},
+		{"/healthz", "[+]ping ok\n[-]bad failed: reason withheld\nhealthz check failed\n", http.StatusInternalServerError, true},
 	}
 
 	for i, test := range tests {