diff --git a/pkg/api/types.go b/pkg/api/types.go
index 9bac8e1cfb1..7eb90d1784d 100644
--- a/pkg/api/types.go
+++ b/pkg/api/types.go
@@ -116,11 +116,10 @@ type HTTPGetProbe struct {
 
 // LivenessProbe describes a liveness probe to be examined to the container.
 type LivenessProbe struct {
-	Enabled bool `yaml:"enabled,omitempty" json:"enabled,omitempty"`
 	// Type of liveness probe.  Current legal values "http"
 	Type string `yaml:"type,omitempty" json:"type,omitempty"`
 	// HTTPGetProbe parameters, required if Type == 'http'
-	HTTPGet HTTPGetProbe `yaml:"httpGet,omitempty" json:"httpGet,omitempty"`
+	HTTPGet *HTTPGetProbe `yaml:"httpGet,omitempty" json:"httpGet,omitempty"`
 	// Length of time before health checking is activated.  In seconds.
 	InitialDelaySeconds int64 `yaml:"initialDelaySeconds,omitempty" json:"initialDelaySeconds,omitempty"`
 }
@@ -141,9 +140,9 @@ type Container struct {
 	// Optional: Defaults to unlimited.
 	Memory int `yaml:"memory,omitempty" json:"memory,omitempty"`
 	// Optional: Defaults to unlimited.
-	CPU           int           `yaml:"cpu,omitempty" json:"cpu,omitempty"`
-	VolumeMounts  []VolumeMount `yaml:"volumeMounts,omitempty" json:"volumeMounts,omitempty"`
-	LivenessProbe LivenessProbe `yaml:"livenessProbe,omitempty" json:"livenessProbe,omitempty"`
+	CPU           int            `yaml:"cpu,omitempty" json:"cpu,omitempty"`
+	VolumeMounts  []VolumeMount  `yaml:"volumeMounts,omitempty" json:"volumeMounts,omitempty"`
+	LivenessProbe *LivenessProbe `yaml:"livenessProbe,omitempty" json:"livenessProbe,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Percentile represents a pair which contains a percentage from 0 to 100 and
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/health_check.go b/pkg/kubelet/health_check.go
index 7bf9933edf0..62a015df08d 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/health_check.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/health_check.go
@@ -25,10 +25,16 @@ import (
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 )
 
-// HealthChecker is an abstract interface for container health checker.
+type HealthCheckStatus int
+
+const (
+	CheckHealthy   HealthCheckStatus = 0
+	CheckUnhealthy HealthCheckStatus = 1
+	CheckUnknown   HealthCheckStatus = 2
+)
+
 type HealthChecker interface {
-	// IsHealthy checks if the container is healthy.
-	IsHealthy(container api.Container) (bool, error)
+	HealthCheck(container api.Container) (HealthCheckStatus, error)
 }
 
 type httpDoInterface interface {
@@ -51,14 +57,13 @@ type MuxHealthChecker struct {
 	checkers map[string]HealthChecker
 }
 
-// IsHealthy checks the health of the container by delegating to an appropriate HealthChecker according to container.LivenessProbe.Type.
-func (m *MuxHealthChecker) IsHealthy(container api.Container) (bool, error) {
+func (m *MuxHealthChecker) HealthCheck(container api.Container) (HealthCheckStatus, error) {
 	checker, ok := m.checkers[container.LivenessProbe.Type]
 	if !ok || checker == nil {
 		glog.Warningf("Failed to find health checker for %s %s", container.Name, container.LivenessProbe.Type)
-		return true, nil
+		return CheckUnknown, nil
 	}
-	return checker.IsHealthy(container)
+	return checker.HealthCheck(container)
 }
 
 // HTTPHealthChecker is an implementation of HealthChecker which checks container health by sending HTTP Get requests.
@@ -76,15 +81,17 @@ func (h *HTTPHealthChecker) findPort(container api.Container, portName string) i
 	return -1
 }
 
-// IsHealthy checks if the container is healthy by trying sending HTTP Get requests to the container.
-func (h *HTTPHealthChecker) IsHealthy(container api.Container) (bool, error) {
+func (h *HTTPHealthChecker) HealthCheck(container api.Container) (HealthCheckStatus, error) {
 	params := container.LivenessProbe.HTTPGet
+	if params == nil {
+		return CheckUnknown, fmt.Errorf("Error, no HTTP parameters specified: %v", container)
+	}
 	port := h.findPort(container, params.Port)
 	if port == -1 {
 		var err error
 		port, err = strconv.ParseInt(params.Port, 10, 0)
 		if err != nil {
-			return true, err
+			return CheckUnknown, err
 		}
 	}
 	var host string
@@ -100,7 +107,11 @@ func (h *HTTPHealthChecker) IsHealthy(container api.Container) (bool, error) {
 	}
 	if err != nil {
 		// At this point, if it fails, its either a policy (unlikely) or HTTP protocol (likely) error.
-		return false, nil
+		return CheckUnhealthy, nil
 	}
-	return res.StatusCode == http.StatusOK, nil
+	if res.StatusCode == http.StatusOK {
+		return CheckHealthy, nil
+	}
+	glog.V(1).Infof("Health check failed for %v, Response: %v", container, *res)
+	return CheckUnhealthy, nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/health_check_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/health_check_test.go
index 6aa18dc0425..557f34702b8 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/health_check_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/health_check_test.go
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ func TestHttpHealth(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	container := api.Container{
-		LivenessProbe: api.LivenessProbe{
-			HTTPGet: api.HTTPGetProbe{
+		LivenessProbe: &api.LivenessProbe{
+			HTTPGet: &api.HTTPGetProbe{
 				Port: "8080",
 				Path: "/foo/bar",
 			},
@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@ func TestHttpHealth(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	}
 
-	ok, err := check.IsHealthy(container)
-	if !ok {
+	ok, err := check.HealthCheck(container)
+	if ok != CheckHealthy {
 		t.Error("Unexpected unhealthy")
 	}
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
index 7167de30d50..39ad4b1dd8f 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -732,7 +732,7 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) syncManifest(manifest *api.ContainerManifest, keepChannel cha
 				glog.V(1).Infof("health check errored: %v", err)
 				continue
 			}
-			if !healthy {
+			if healthy != CheckHealthy {
 				glog.V(1).Infof("manifest %s container %s is unhealthy.", manifest.ID, container.Name)
 				if err != nil {
 					glog.V(1).Infof("Failed to get container info %v, for %s", err, containerID)
@@ -989,16 +989,16 @@ func (kl *Kubelet) GetMachineStats() (*api.ContainerStats, error) {
 	return kl.statsFromContainerPath("/")
 }
 
-func (kl *Kubelet) healthy(container api.Container, dockerContainer *docker.APIContainers) (bool, error) {
+func (kl *Kubelet) healthy(container api.Container, dockerContainer *docker.APIContainers) (HealthCheckStatus, error) {
 	// Give the container 60 seconds to start up.
-	if !container.LivenessProbe.Enabled {
-		return true, nil
+	if container.LivenessProbe == nil {
+		return CheckHealthy, nil
 	}
 	if time.Now().Unix()-dockerContainer.Created < container.LivenessProbe.InitialDelaySeconds {
-		return true, nil
+		return CheckHealthy, nil
 	}
 	if kl.HealthChecker == nil {
-		return true, nil
+		return CheckHealthy, nil
 	}
-	return kl.HealthChecker.IsHealthy(container)
+	return kl.HealthChecker.HealthCheck(container)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
index ce071451074..a3a74381e19 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_test.go
@@ -424,8 +424,8 @@ func TestSyncManifestsDeletes(t *testing.T) {
 
 type FalseHealthChecker struct{}
 
-func (f *FalseHealthChecker) IsHealthy(container api.Container) (bool, error) {
-	return false, nil
+func (f *FalseHealthChecker) HealthCheck(container api.Container) (HealthCheckStatus, error) {
+	return CheckUnhealthy, nil
 }
 
 func TestSyncManifestsUnhealthy(t *testing.T) {
@@ -448,8 +448,7 @@ func TestSyncManifestsUnhealthy(t *testing.T) {
 			ID: "foo",
 			Containers: []api.Container{
 				{Name: "bar",
-					LivenessProbe: api.LivenessProbe{
-						Enabled: true,
+					LivenessProbe: &api.LivenessProbe{
 						// Always returns healthy == false
 						Type: "false",
 					},