diff --git a/installer/roles/kubernetes/templates/deployment.yml.j2 b/installer/roles/kubernetes/templates/deployment.yml.j2
index 8e9f234c20..383a3e0a8a 100644
--- a/installer/roles/kubernetes/templates/deployment.yml.j2
+++ b/installer/roles/kubernetes/templates/deployment.yml.j2
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ data:
       [rabbitmq_management,rabbitmq_peer_discovery_k8s].
   rabbitmq_definitions.json: |
       {
-        "users":[{"name": "{{ rabbitmq_user }}", "password": "{{ rabbitmq_password }}", "tags": ""}],
+        "users":[{"name": "{{ rabbitmq_user }}", "password": "{{ rabbitmq_password }}", "tags": "administrator"}],
         "permissions":[
           {"user":"{{ rabbitmq_user }}","vhost":"awx","configure":".*","write":".*","read":".*"}
         ],
@@ -269,12 +269,14 @@ spec:
               containerPort: 5672
           livenessProbe:
             exec:
-              command: ["rabbitmqctl", "status"]
+              command:
+              - /usr/local/bin/healthchecks/rabbit_health_node.py
             initialDelaySeconds: 30
             timeoutSeconds: 10
           readinessProbe:
             exec:
-              command: ["rabbitmqctl", "status"]
+              command:
+              - /usr/local/bin/healthchecks/rabbit_health_node.py
             initialDelaySeconds: 10
             timeoutSeconds: 10
           env:
@@ -293,9 +295,18 @@ spec:
                   key: rabbitmq_erlang_cookie
             - name: K8S_SERVICE_NAME
               value: "rabbitmq"
+            - name: RABBITMQ_USER
+              value: {{ rabbitmq_user }}
+            - name: RABBITMQ_PASSWORD
+              valueFrom:
+                secretKeyRef:
+                  name: "{{ kubernetes_deployment_name }}-secrets"
+                  key: rabbitmq_password
           volumeMounts:
             - name: rabbitmq-config
               mountPath: /etc/rabbitmq
+            - name: rabbitmq-healthchecks
+              mountPath: /usr/local/bin/healthchecks
           resources:
             requests:
               memory: "{{ rabbitmq_mem_request }}Gi"
@@ -387,6 +398,41 @@ spec:
               path: enabled_plugins
             - key: rabbitmq_definitions.json
               path: rabbitmq_definitions.json
+        - name: rabbitmq-healthchecks
+          configMap:
+            name: {{ kubernetes_deployment_name }}-healthchecks
+            items:
+            - key: rabbit_health_node.py
+              path: rabbit_health_node.py
+            defaultMode: 0755
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: {{ kubernetes_deployment_name }}-healthchecks
+  namespace: {{ kubernetes_namespace }}
+data:
+  rabbit_health_node.py: |
+    #!/usr/bin/env python
+    try:
+      from http.client import HTTPConnection
+    except ImportError:
+      from httplib import HTTPConnection
+    import sys
+    import os
+    import base64
+    authsecret = base64.b64encode(os.getenv('RABBITMQ_USER') + ':' + os.getenv('RABBITMQ_PASSWORD'))
+    conn=HTTPConnection('localhost:15672')
+    conn.request('GET', '/api/healthchecks/node', headers={'Authorization': 'Basic %s' % authsecret})
+    r1 = conn.getresponse()
+    if r1.status != 200:
+      sys.stderr.write('Received http error %i\n' % (r1.status))
+      sys.exit(1)
+    body = r1.read()
+    if body != '{"status":"ok"}':
+      sys.stderr.write('Received body: %s' % body)
+      sys.exit(2)
+    sys.exit(0)
 ---
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Service