diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index a03b8f0855c..5a45ad676ec 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -2511,6 +2511,10 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) LatestLoopEntryTime() time.Time {
 	return val.(time.Time)
 }
 
+func (kl *Kubelet) PLEGHealthCheck() (bool, error) {
+	return kl.pleg.Healthy()
+}
+
 // validateContainerLogStatus returns the container ID for the desired container to retrieve logs for, based on the state
 // of the container. The previous flag will only return the logs for the the last terminated container, otherwise, the current
 // running container is preferred over a previous termination. If info about the container is not available then a specific
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic.go b/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic.go
index 1f091e49723..e397a4568b5 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/pleg/generic.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	kubecontainer "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/container"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/metrics"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/types"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/atomic"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/sets"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/wait"
 )
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ type GenericPLEG struct {
 	// The internal cache for pod/container information.
 	podRecords podRecords
 	// Time of the last relisting.
-	lastRelistTime time.Time
+	relistTime atomic.Value
 	// Cache for storing the runtime states required for syncing pods.
 	cache kubecontainer.Cache
 }
@@ -113,6 +114,19 @@ func (g *GenericPLEG) Start() {
 	go wait.Until(g.relist, g.relistPeriod, wait.NeverStop)
 }
 
+func (g *GenericPLEG) Healthy() (bool, error) {
+	relistTime := g.getRelistTime()
+	// TODO: Evaluate if we can reduce this threshold.
+	// The threshold needs to be greater than the relisting period + the
+	// relisting time, which can vary significantly. Set a conservative
+	// threshold so that we don't cause kubelet to be restarted unnecessarily.
+	threshold := 2 * time.Minute
+	if time.Since(relistTime) > threshold {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("pleg was last seen active at %v", relistTime)
+	}
+	return true, nil
+}
+
 func generateEvent(podID types.UID, cid string, oldState, newState plegContainerState) *PodLifecycleEvent {
 	if newState == oldState {
 		return nil
@@ -143,18 +157,31 @@ func generateEvent(podID types.UID, cid string, oldState, newState plegContainer
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (g *GenericPLEG) getRelistTime() time.Time {
+	val := g.relistTime.Load()
+	if val == nil {
+		return time.Time{}
+	}
+	return val.(time.Time)
+}
+
+func (g *GenericPLEG) updateRelisTime(timestamp time.Time) {
+	g.relistTime.Store(timestamp)
+}
+
 // relist queries the container runtime for list of pods/containers, compare
 // with the internal pods/containers, and generats events accordingly.
 func (g *GenericPLEG) relist() {
 	glog.V(5).Infof("GenericPLEG: Relisting")
-	timestamp := time.Now()
 
-	if !g.lastRelistTime.IsZero() {
-		metrics.PLEGRelistInterval.Observe(metrics.SinceInMicroseconds(g.lastRelistTime))
+	if lastRelistTime := g.getRelistTime(); !lastRelistTime.IsZero() {
+		metrics.PLEGRelistInterval.Observe(metrics.SinceInMicroseconds(lastRelistTime))
 	}
+
+	timestamp := time.Now()
+	// Update the relist time.
+	g.updateRelisTime(timestamp)
 	defer func() {
-		// Update the relist time.
-		g.lastRelistTime = timestamp
 		metrics.PLEGRelistLatency.Observe(metrics.SinceInMicroseconds(timestamp))
 	}()
 
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/pleg/pleg.go b/pkg/kubelet/pleg/pleg.go
index c23472ca925..01798237286 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/pleg/pleg.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/pleg/pleg.go
@@ -48,4 +48,5 @@ type PodLifecycleEvent struct {
 type PodLifecycleEventGenerator interface {
 	Start()
 	Watch() chan *PodLifecycleEvent
+	Healthy() (bool, error)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/server/server.go b/pkg/kubelet/server/server.go
index 8246417d87d..0ff3284e935 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/server/server.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/server/server.go
@@ -166,6 +166,7 @@ type HostInterface interface {
 	DockerImagesFsInfo() (cadvisorapiv2.FsInfo, error)
 	RootFsInfo() (cadvisorapiv2.FsInfo, error)
 	ListVolumesForPod(podUID types.UID) (map[string]volume.Volume, bool)
+	PLEGHealthCheck() (bool, error)
 }
 
 // NewServer initializes and configures a kubelet.Server object to handle HTTP requests.
@@ -223,6 +224,7 @@ func (s *Server) InstallDefaultHandlers() {
 	healthz.InstallHandler(s.restfulCont,
 		healthz.PingHealthz,
 		healthz.NamedCheck("syncloop", s.syncLoopHealthCheck),
+		healthz.NamedCheck("pleg", s.plegHealthCheck),
 	)
 	var ws *restful.WebService
 	ws = new(restful.WebService)
@@ -385,6 +387,14 @@ func (s *Server) syncLoopHealthCheck(req *http.Request) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// Checks if pleg, which lists pods periodically, is healthy.
+func (s *Server) plegHealthCheck(req *http.Request) error {
+	if ok, err := s.host.PLEGHealthCheck(); !ok {
+		return fmt.Errorf("PLEG took longer than expected: %v", err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // getContainerLogs handles containerLogs request against the Kubelet
 func (s *Server) getContainerLogs(request *restful.Request, response *restful.Response) {
 	podNamespace := request.PathParameter("podNamespace")
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/server/server_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/server/server_test.go
index cf5dd1ea7ee..7b5b4fc1e74 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/server/server_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/server/server_test.go
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ type fakeKubelet struct {
 	hostnameFunc                       func() string
 	resyncInterval                     time.Duration
 	loopEntryTime                      time.Time
+	plegHealth                         bool
 }
 
 func (fk *fakeKubelet) ResyncInterval() time.Duration {
@@ -133,6 +134,8 @@ func (fk *fakeKubelet) StreamingConnectionIdleTimeout() time.Duration {
 	return fk.streamingConnectionIdleTimeoutFunc()
 }
 
+func (fk *fakeKubelet) PLEGHealthCheck() (bool, error) { return fk.plegHealth, nil }
+
 // Unused functions
 func (_ *fakeKubelet) GetContainerInfoV2(_ string, _ cadvisorapiv2.RequestOptions) (map[string]cadvisorapiv2.ContainerInfo, error) {
 	return nil, nil
@@ -190,6 +193,7 @@ func newServerTest() *serverTestFramework {
 				},
 			}, true
 		},
+		plegHealth: true,
 	}
 	fw.fakeAuth = &fakeAuth{
 		authenticateFunc: func(req *http.Request) (user.Info, bool, error) {
@@ -532,7 +536,7 @@ func TestHealthCheck(t *testing.T) {
 	// Test with correct hostname, Docker version
 	assertHealthIsOk(t, fw.testHTTPServer.URL+"/healthz")
 
-	//Test with incorrect hostname
+	// Test with incorrect hostname
 	fw.fakeKubelet.hostnameFunc = func() string {
 		return "fake"
 	}
@@ -738,6 +742,17 @@ func TestSyncLoopCheck(t *testing.T) {
 	assertHealthFails(t, fw.testHTTPServer.URL+"/healthz", http.StatusInternalServerError)
 }
 
+func TestPLEGHealthCheck(t *testing.T) {
+	fw := newServerTest()
+	fw.fakeKubelet.hostnameFunc = func() string {
+		return "127.0.0.1"
+	}
+
+	// Test with failed pleg health check.
+	fw.fakeKubelet.plegHealth = false
+	assertHealthFails(t, fw.testHTTPServer.URL+"/healthz", http.StatusInternalServerError)
+}
+
 // returns http response status code from the HTTP GET
 func assertHealthIsOk(t *testing.T, httpURL string) {
 	resp, err := http.Get(httpURL)