diff --git a/internal/pkg/cmd/reloader.go b/internal/pkg/cmd/reloader.go
index 98105839..f81fa3a9 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/cmd/reloader.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/cmd/reloader.go
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ func startReloader(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		lock := leadership.GetNewLock(clientset.CoordinationV1(), constants.LockName, podName, podNamespace)
 		ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
 		defer cancel()
-		leadership.RunLeaderElection(lock, ctx, cancel, podName, controllers)
+		go leadership.RunLeaderElection(lock, ctx, cancel, podName, controllers)
 	}
 
 	logrus.Fatal(leadership.Healthz())
diff --git a/internal/pkg/leadership/leadership.go b/internal/pkg/leadership/leadership.go
index 9e48b7ee..20fa779a 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/leadership/leadership.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/leadership/leadership.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package leadership
 import (
 	"context"
 	"net/http"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ const healthPort string = ":9091"
 
 var (
 	// Used for liveness probe
+	m       sync.Mutex
 	healthy bool = true
 )
 
@@ -58,6 +60,8 @@ func RunLeaderElection(lock *resourcelock.LeaseLock, ctx context.Context, cancel
 				logrus.Info("no longer leader, shutting down")
 				stopControllers(stopChannels)
 				cancel()
+				m.Lock()
+				defer m.Unlock()
 				healthy = false
 			},
 			OnNewLeader: func(current_id string) {
@@ -93,6 +97,8 @@ func Healthz() error {
 }
 
 func healthz(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
+	m.Lock()
+	defer m.Unlock()
 	if healthy {
 		if i, err := w.Write([]byte("alive")); err != nil {
 			logrus.Infof("failed to write liveness response, wrote: %d bytes, got err: %s", i, err)